KO Trio
by gaaraxvamp
Summary: On a bright April morning in Kumogakure no Sato, three young genin fresh from the ninja academy were getting ready to meet up with their newly assigned sensei, little did they know what their future held. Rated M for Language and Gore in later chapters.
1. Meeting

**KO 1: Meeting**

K.O. Trio was written by the "real" Kiyo, Kurinto, and Kaido.  
>Disclaimer: <em>NarutoShippuuden_ belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and TV Tokyo.

On a bright April morning in Kumogakure no Sato, or Hidden Cloud Village, three young genin fresh from the ninja academy were getting ready to meet up with their newly assigned sensei, little did they know what their future held.

Training field number eight, a decent sized meadow surrounded by a forest just outside the village limits. It had three tall tree stumps one could tie someone to if it was deemed necessary. The first of the new team arrived, Kaido Tsukizawa, age 12, soon-to-be 13, was the youngest of the group and stood at exactly 5ft. He was the fastest out of the three and had the best chakra control. He had spiky cream-colored hair, bright green eyes, and brown skin. He wore a black hoodie with the signature white Kumo vest over it and black shorts. His village headband placed proudly on his forehead. "Hey." He said to their sensei before leaning up against one of the stumps to take a quick nap.

"Lazy butt..." Kira Satomi sweat-dropped. She was their fiery, short-tempered jounin sensei. At the age of 25 and at 5' 10" she had completed over one-thousand missions in her career and decided to take on the task of training the genin of the next generation. Her long, curly violet hair stopped just above her waistline and she had a beauty mark just under the left of her cerulean eyes. She wore a grey kimono-like dress that stopped at mid-thigh and the Kumo vest was an obi. Her white ninja boots came up to her knees and she had a white and red katana strapped to her side.

The second and 'middle-child' member of the team leapt through the trees in the surrounding forest, sled down one on the field's edge and waved to Kira. Kurinto Masato, age 14 and 5' 6", walked over to his new teammate and started snapping, trying to wake him up, while eating berries he had gathered earlier. Kurinto had smooth bright blonde hair and ocean blue eyes. He wears a dark blue sleeveless shirt with a fishnet shirt underneath, black shorts, and black fingerless ninja gloves with the cloud symbol on them. He has two black leather sashes to hold his swords on his back with metal band sideways on the left one.

The third and oldest of the genin arrived with her hands in her pockets simply nodding to Kurinto and Kira as she adjusted her black glasses. Kiyohiko Kusuri, a.k.a. Kiyo, a soon-to-be 15 year old was short for her age at 4ft-9. She had her vibrant red hair styled so her bangs were just above her eyes with a high ponytail in the back. Her emerald green eyes had dark purple circles around them, and she had a small diagonal scar on the bridge of her nose. She wore a black short-sleeved vest with a fishnet shirt underneath and black capris with wrappings covering the rest of her legs. She had a brown hemp-fabric sash that had her headband on it.

As Kurinto finished his berries, he looked his new teammate over, "What's wrong with yo-" Kiyo interrupted him by shaking her head 'no'. _ Guess I shouldn't ask about it then…_ Kurinto thought as he scratched his head.

Kira slapped Kaido awake, "OI! Lazy! Get up!"

"OW! You jerk face!" Kaido burst out, waking up. Kurinto started laughing at him, and Kiyo giggled silently to herself. "So this is our team?" Kaido asked as he stood, "This sucks…" he whined as Kurinto rolled his eyes.

"Alright ya pansies! I'm Kira Satomi and I'm your freakin' babysitter…yippee~!" She cheered sarcastically.

"I don't need a freakin' babysitter…" Kurinto stated, insulted by her sarcastic remark.

"Obviously you do, dummy." Kaido joked. Kurinto simply gave him a death glare.

Kiyo rolled her eyes. _This is NOT gonna end well-ttebanya… _

Kira sighed. "Petty comments aside." She pulled out two bells from her pocket, and started a timer for two hours. "I got this test from Kakashi Hatake in Konoha, a.k.a. the Leaf Village. Your practice mission is to take these two bells from me before the timer runs out at noon. Those who don't have one by then get no lunch and not only will I tie you to one of those stumps over there. I'll also eat your lunch right in front of you." She smirked and chuckled.

At that time all three of the genin's stomachs growled and they thought. _So __**that's**__ why she told us not to eat..._

"You only have to get one bell, so one of you will definitely be tied to the stump." Kira stared explaining the rules again. "And…the person who doesn't get one fails and will have to go back to the academy. You can use any weapon or fighting style you want, but you won't succeed unless you intend to kill me. Oh and one more thing…I've put up a barrier around the field, so you're stuck till noon, or if this ends before then, but either way you're stuck." She dangles the bells.

Kaido performs a jutsu, sending a Black Lightning Shadow Clone to Kira as the real Kaido tries to grab one of the bells. Kira simply sidesteps his attempt and as Kaido planned his clone blows up, but it backfires…literally. _Crap!_ He thought just before it blew up in his face and made him fly back, hitting a tree. Then he started snoozing again and Kira laughed at this.

Kurinto, deeming it his turn, stomps the ground causing a small-scale earthquake. Kira loses her balance and woken up from his short nap, Kaido gets up and within half a second has one of the bells. Kira then jumps up and kicks Kurinto in the face, cutting his cheek. He flies back into a different tree. When Kaido stops running, he ends up near Kiyo. She sees Kurinto's cut and stares intensely at it, like it's entrancing her.

"Uhh…Are you okay?" Kaido asked seeing her staring at their other teammate. She snapped out of it and waved at him to the effect of 'I'm fine.' As Kurinto and Kira were fighting Kiyo climbed to the top of the tree where she was hiding. She found where Kira put the bentos, or boxed lunches, and manages to sneak over there and starts to eat one. _Hungry…_

Kira suddenly appears behind her, "KIYO!" She yelled in a demonic voice. A short time later Kiyo is tied to one of the earlier mentioned stumps and Kurinto and Kaido both have a bento. "Not one of you will have to go back to the academy, because you should just quit being ninja." She gave them a disappointing stare, "And don't give her any food, if you do…dire consequences _will_ be met." She walked off, releasing the barrier around the field.

Kiyo's stomach growls loudly, "Hmm…" Kurinto holds his bento up to her, "Here…I filled up on berries before the exercise…" he lied to seem cool.

Kaido sighed. "Here's mine, I'm not even hungry…." He held the bento up to her face.

Kiyo smiled at the boys' gestures as Kurinto held his chopsticks to her face. Kiyo blushed as she began to eat the food their sensei hade bought for the exercise. Suddenly, with a puff of smoke, Kira reappeared. "YOU!...pass." she smiled

"R-really? I thought I was gonna get kicked in the face again…" Kurinto touched his cut that was still bleeding a little.

Kira laughed while untying Kiyo. "A ninja must see underneath the underneath. Those who break the rules and codes of the ninja world are called trash…That's why shinobi have been going by for generations." She finished untying Kiyo. "But ya know what? Those who don't take care of their comrades are even worse than scum. That's what we should really go by…"

The three genin nodded in agreement and Kiyo motioned Kurinto down to her level. "Yeah, ya need something?" he asked. Quickly, Kiyo licked his cut, "Ow! What the-? That stung! Wait…what…" It was gone. "What happened?"

Kiyo simply smiled. Kira then put a hand on her shoulder, "Kiyo from the Kusuri family, the one that makes medicine medical supplies with Cannabis. As you know they are also well known for their amazing healing abilities, but Kiyo's here is beyond even that of Tsunade's from Konoha. Kiyo hasn't even professionally trained yet." She paused for a breath. "Anyway, Kiyo Kusuri, Kurinto Masato, and Kaido Tsukizawa, as of today you are now an official ninja. Starting tomorrow we will begin our duties as Team 8! So be prepared! Dismissed!"

You can read the rest of this story at .net/~gaaraxvamp.


	2. Weapons and Chess

**KO 2: Weapons and Chess**

A week later after their team had done miscellaneous missions that had seemed more like grunt work than actual missions; Kurinto pulled his two teammates under the shade of a tree when they were done with the day's mission. "Guys I think I can trust you enough to show you one of my treasures." He told them.

"Please don't tell me it's your ding-dong…" Kiyo deadpanned.

Kaido laughed at her joke, "Ha-ha, wait you talk?"

Kurinto then facepalmed. _And her head's in the gutter too._ He proceeded to pull out two scrolls, place them on the ground and cross them. He summoned two black bastard swords with blue hilts. "They're two very special swords made 100 % out of chakra metal."

"Oh, since we're showing off weapons here, and that tends to suck, Imma show mine." Kaido bit his thumb and wrote a sign on his palm. Black lightning shoots out from it and a black kasuri gama covered in black lightning appears.

Kiyo held out her hand and with a puff of smoke, a black spear with a red stone on the end of the handle appeared. "So… what's with all of us having black weapons?"

"Cause everyone here's black…" Kaido suggested.

"It's the best choice for stealth missions." Kurinto explained.

"Black is just a kickass color." Kiyo added.

"That too." The boys agreed.

"Anyway…" Kiyo's spear disappeared with another puff of smoke, "you guys wanna come over?"

"You got any snacks?" Kaido asked.

"I don't have anything to do…" Kurinto stated.

As the three were walking to Kiyo's house, Suki, a girl the same age as Kurinto walked up to Kiyo and slapped her. "Stop trying to take Kurinto away from me!"

"Bitch!" Kiyo appeared behind Suki, grabbed her wrists and put her foot on her back. "Say bye-bye to your arms now." She said sadistically then proceeded to break her arms.

Kurinto and Kaido pretended not to see what had just happened. When Kiyo realized what she had done she asked, "Wait…what just happened?"

"Uhh…seizure?" Kurinto lied.

"Yeah, yeah. Let's go!" Kaido grabbed Kiyo and ran.

Kurinto followed them. _What a weirdo…_ He thought to himself, referring to Suki.

After they were far enough from the scene they started walking again. "I know what happened but…I meant what happened to me. Even if that girl slapped me I'm not the kind of person to do something like that." Kiyo stated, confused at herself. _Not in this state anyway..._ "Let's just forget that happened okay? And…we're here." She pointed to an elegant apartment building.

"Well let's go inside then…" Kurinto sweatdropped. They go inside her apartment on the first floor; the boys sit down at a chess table.

"I'll go get you guys a snack, go ahead and play chess while you wait if you want." Kiyo suggested as she went into the kitchen.

"Alright Kurinto I'll be white." Kaido stated.

"No, I'll be white, you be black, Kaido, since I'm sitting on the white side already." Kurinto explained.

"Then how about we just turn the board around…" Kaido suggested.

"Really Kaido?" Kurinto's eye twitched.

_He only wishes he was white…_ Kiyo chuckled to herself while getting some cookies for them. Kurinto and Kaido start playing chess and Kiyo came in with the cookies and some soda.

"Check mate, I win ha-ha." Kaido laughed Kurinto just looked at him and being a bit of a sore loser he said.

"You know what fuck this game!" Kurinto said as he punched through the chess board and the floor. "Whoops forgot my strength." Kurinto said embarrassed.

"My…chess….my dad gave me that…" Kiyo stood there staring at the empty space. This time Kurinto was grabbed by the shirt, "You better damn well repair and/or pay for all of this!"

"Well Kuro is poor so he'll have to fix it for you," Kaido laughed.

"Ya but I'm good at handy work, so I'll fix it for ya, sorry." Kurinto said rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

"Feh…" she let him go. "You're lucky you're my teammate ok? Otherwise you'd be in the hospital by now….and not one of the ones my family runs either…" she crossed her arms.

"Oh ya, you're a Kusuri." Kurinto said.

"Mhmm…" Kiyo nodded. "Didn't we go over that already?" she raised an eyebrow.

"We weren't paying attention when you were talking; we saw a giant hawk in the sky." Kaido said laughing.

"It was kinda awesome, I have to be honest." Kurinto agreed.

"Show's ya how much you pay attention…" She muttered.

Suddenly, a man in a blue business suit barged in the front door. "Oh my darling Kyo~!" he shouted. He saw Kurinto and Kaido in his stepdaughter's apartment. He then proceeded to drag her into the kitchen.

"Sousuke-san I told you it's KI-yo, not Kyo!" she whined. The boys quietly laughed at their comrade's whining. Then they hear a smack. "Oww~!" she whined louder.

"Kaido let me see what's going on…" Kurinto walked into the kitchen and saw Kiyo with tears forming in her eyes. He picked up Sousuke by his dress shirt; markings were appearing all over his body. "You know…the one thing I hate in this world is abusive parents." He threw Sousuke into the nearest wall.

Kiyo looked up at her teammate and saw the bright blue markings forming. "Kurinto," she sweatdropped, "Kurinto…All he did was it me upside the head cause I didn't tell him you guys were coming over-ttebanya. Y-Ya know just like a tap. I mean he hit my ear and I was caught off guard but…" she got distracted by the markings. "Wait what are those?" she pointed to them.

"I'll be in the other room," he said as he walked off, ignoring her question.

Sousuke got up and dusted off his clothing like nothing had happened to him. He and Kiyo walked into the other room together. "I approve!" He patted Kurinto on the shoulder with a thumbs up and grin. He left.

Kurinto facepalmed, "Was he a medical ninja or doctor of some sort?"

"No…even though he's the CEO of Kusuri Medical co…he doesn't even know how to put on a simple Band-Aid, let alone heal." Kiyo stated matter-of-factly.

"Wow, he is kinda useless." Kaido said laughing.

"Well that not really nice but he is odd though I'll say that." Kurinto said.

Kiyo's stepdad poked his head in the room, "Oh by the way don't worry about the chess board and the floor board, I'll take care of it since it's Kyo's friends. It's not a problem, well I'll see you kids later." he then disappeared.

"We'll since I'm free and clear of that I guess I'll head home. I have to some self training to do, I'll see ya later you two. And sorry about the floor Kiyo." Kurinto said as he left her house.

"We'll I'm going to head home for a nice long nap~." Kaido yawned as he speed off in the direction of his house.

"What? No goodbye? How rude, Dattebanya…" Kiyo glared outside.


	3. Commoner's Shopping Mall

**KO 3: Commoner's Shopping Mall**

Kiyo opened her eyes and as far as she can see, there are commoners. (Dun…dun…DUN~!) _How…did I end up here? I was sleeping in my bed just a minute ago right~?_ _Oh no wait…Karin was going on and on about a mall…_Earlier that day Kiyo's cousin, Karin, had come over for a visit. "C'mon Kyo-chan~! I wanna go to the commoner's shopping mall!" She nudged the slightly younger girl to get up from her slumber.

"Karin….how many times do I have to tell you it's 'Kiyo' not 'Kyo' and I thought you hated anything to do with commoners?" She pulled the covers tighter over her body.

"Not since Ouran came out! Commoners just seem so interesting now! And since you're living like one I need you to come with me!" The spoiled girl threw her ninja cousin out of bed. "And you're not gonna wear those stupid boys' clothes!"

So here Kiyo was lost and left by her cousin after she had seen a 'real hottie' and left to fend for herself in an unknown world of mysteries. And to top it all off she was wearing a pink, frilly dress, the thing that she hated most of all and it was because of her spoiled slightly older cousin who was actually into the who 'rich chick snob' shit. Karin was one of those people who caused trouble for everyone she met and was an absolute annoyance to all and didn't think twice about it; to sum it up in a word, a bitch.

"Great…it's raining…" Kiyo said to herself looking out the nearest door leading outside. _The Izumi Shopping center huh? That's on the other side of the village…_She began to wander around searching for her cousin, refusing to ask anyone for help due to her stubbornness. As she turned a corner she bumped into a taller teen with blonde hair. "Hey! Watch where you're going you big oaf!" she fumed and shook her fist at him.

"Sorry about that I was distracted for a second while walking..." _Kiyo, what the fuck are you wearing! _He started laughing to himself. _Can't burst out laughing Kurinto, it wouldn't be nice and you don't wanna piss off your teammate here._ He thought to himself. "Hey Kiyo…trying something new or did you lose a bet?" He asked her trying desperately not to laugh.

Kiyo punched her teammate in the arm, "Shut up, this isn't even mine." She whined. "It's my cousin's. She dragged me here half-asleep and then left me without my wallet for some random dude," she dragged her hand down her face in frustration. Then her stomach growled, "And I haven't even had breakfast yet." She whined more.

"Well I have two pieces of good news, a, I brought a rain coat with me because I knew it was supposed to rain so here you can wear that over the pink thing and, b, I'm heading to the food court now." Kurinto said still trying not to laugh.

"I don't need _your_ help," Kiyo said snatching the jacket from her friend and putting on. "And since _you're_ the one that bumped into _me,_ I demand you buy me whatever _I_ want." She stated zipping it up.

"Do you have memory loss Kiyo?" He opens his wallet and sees that he only had about 160 ryo left. "I only came here with 315 ryo anyways." Kurinto said rubbing the back of his head.

"Then we'll go to one of those fast food places that you commoners built," she motions for him to lead her to the so-called food court.

"You know that sounds insaulting calling people that, because to us it's just as bad as someone calling you a rich bitch. I'm sorry but it's getting annoying hearing that around and I don't like my friends using either one of those terms." said Kurinto.

Kiyo just stood there stunned. "I was just…that was the way I was raised…how am I supposed to know what to call all of you, huh?" she almost whispers, crossing her arms.

"Regardless of monetary status you should just call people by their name and instead of saying 'fast food place you commoners built' say one of those 'fast food places'. I'll help you though don't worry." He smiles.

Kiyo blushed; a boy had never been so nice to her since she moved to Kumo, "I said I didn't need your help." She turned her head to hide the blush.

"Well I'll be around when you do." he said smiling. "Now let's go get some food I'm hungry myself." They arrive at a hamburger f-f restaurant that had a long line. Not knowing that she had to wait in line, Kiyo headed towards the counter where she thought the servers were. Kurinto grabs her shoulder "The line starts over here Kiyo we have to wait like everyone else."

"Oh." She stood next to him. "Say…Kuro-kun? Why are you being so nice to me?"

Kuro scratched his head, "Well...we're friends, friends act like this normally don't they?"

She looked down as she blushed again, "I wouldn't really know…not many people our age take a liking to me." She noticed that no one else was in front of them in line. "Kuro, I think it's our turn, how do I order?"

"Just tell me what you want and I'll order for you."

"You pick just get us a lot of it." She said coolly.

"I'll take two hamburgers and a 20 piece chicken nuggets meal." Kurinto told the cashier.

"Hey what about drinks? And…those…potato things…" Suddenly Kiyo felt hot and gave Kurinto his jacket back.

"These meals come with those miss."The cashier glanced at Kiyo, _Wow…she's too adorable…_he blushed at her in the dress. "Would you like try some of our new desserts? It's on the house." He bent down to her level and grinned hoping he might be able to hook up with her one day.

"Sure man I'd bet she like one." Kurinto said then the cashier sees he headband on Kurinto's vest and tenses up.

"Sure sir I'll add them the order then." said the cashier abandoning his thought of hooking up with her in fear of the ninja that's setting the money on the counter. _Dammit she's probably his girlfriend…_He set their order on the counter and gave Kurinto his change. They found a place to sit and began eating their food.

"So…I don't have to use a fork and knife right?"

"Nope you eat with your hands, baka." Kuro starts eating his fries.

Kiyo puffed her cheeks like a squirrel, "I-I know that! I was just…testing you! And who said I even wanted a shake, dattebanya!" she took a big bite out of her hamburger and then a sip of her shake

"You know that guy was flirting with you, right?" Kurinto says as he bites into his nuggets.

Kiyo blushed again, "It's not cool…making fun of me Kurinto…" she opened up the top and started gulping down the sweet dessert-beverage.

"Oh it gets better…I can tell that he was intimidated by me and thought I was taking you on a date as well…did you notice that?" said Kurinto as he finishes his meal.

Kiyo threw a couple of fries at him, "Quit…quit lying…" she almost teared up. "No boy has and ever will see me that way…" she glared at the table finishing her meal as well.

"Well he did. I guess you aren't good at noticing stuff like that. I sometimes notice when people are flirting with someone." He said with a smirk.

The two teammates go into various stores looking for Karin and something catches Kiyo's eye. "Katana from Ishigaki Island? Odd to find them here considering how much they go for…Geez and they're dirt cheap." She noted looking at the 5k price tag.

"Well maybe for you but I would have to go to the...never mind I can't afford stuff like that, and anyways I have my chakura metal swords and you have your spear." He said sweatdropping at himself. _Almost gave it away…_

"Hm?" she gave him a questing look. They went on to different parts of the mall and while they were in a sweets shop. Kiyo looked at the ingredients of one the boxed candies. "Hey Kuro-kun did you know this?" she called him over. "Is strawberry the preferred flavor among snack-makers? It doesn't make sense…" she stood there thinking, "if the primary ingredient is corn, why go to all the trouble of making it artificially taste like fruit? Seems counterintuitive…"

"Well the 3 most popular flavors are grape, cherry, and strawberry and the reason they make artificially flavors and such is that it's a lot cheaper to make those than to pay for full on natural thing." He explained.

"Hm…still makes no sense…but whatever, I'll take some!" she smiled. "I'll pay you back later. Please let me have a box of the strawberry ones?" she begged cutely.

"Fine but I'm out of money after this you know." Kurinto reminded her.

She got her sweets and started eating them as soon as they got out of the store. "Wow these are so good! Man I love sweet things, especially strawberries~!" she swallowed the few that were currently in her mouth.

"Attention shoppers this is an announcement for a lost child," came a woman's voice over the PA system. "Attention shoppers this is an announcement for a lost child," the woman repeated, "A little girl named Kyo Kusuri is lost inside the store." She paused for a breathe, "Repeat: Kyo Kusuri is lost. Her guardian, Saito, is waiting for her at the second floor information counter. Kyo is 4ft 9in tall with bright red hair and golden eyes."

The people around Kiyo and Kurinto stared at the pink clad ninja and began whispering things about her. "That goddamned retard...I'LL KILL HER!" she shouted and shook her fist at the nearest speaker.

"Well I guess we don't have to worry about looking for her so let go to the desk then." Kuro said trying not to laugh. They arrive at the info counter and as soon as they do Karin glomps her younger cousin.

"Oh Kyo! I was so worried about you!-Who is this?" the black haired teen questioned Kiyo then gasped. "Is he your boyfriend~?" she giggled annoyingly.

Kiyo merely punched her across the room, stomped over to her, and proceeded to shake her violently. "You're the one that dragged me here! And no he's not my boyfriend just a teammate you got that? For once in your life could you think about other's feeling for a change? DATTEBANYA!"

"I take it this is your cousin who dragged you here." Kurinto laughed.

**~END~**


	4. Darkness of Black

**KO 4:**

"YOU FUCKING RETARD! I DON'T CARE IF THIS WAS A FUCKING D-RANK MISSION YOU STILL HALF-FUCKED IT!" Kira yelled furiously at Kaido for sleeping on the job last night.

"C'mon Kuro got the job done without me, though so what's the point at yelling at me?" Kaido whined.

Kira groaned. Never in her life did she ever meet someone as lazy as him. She could of a girl that was close but…definitely not as lazy. "Why the fuck do _you_ think, huh?" She pulled leg weights out of her bag, "Anyway as your punishment I want you to do 500 laps around the village wearing these…" she chuckled evilly.

"What the heck man?" Kaido cried. Kira put them on him, but when he tried to move he just fell to the ground. "What the hell, are these Kuro's weights?" Kaido yelled.

"No…they're Kiyo's." Kira chuckled again. "Don't make get Kuro's." she had an evil smirk.

_That face…..it reminds me of Russia…_Kiyo sweat-dropped a few yards away. Watching in slight enjoyment at her teammate's suffering. "Where's Kurinto? It's weird for him to be this late…" she worried about her other comrade.

"Fuck if I know…probably getting some sleep since he's the only one that did the mission…" Kira grinned at Kaido he was going faster than she thought; he had successfully ran six inches since the weights were put on.

Kurinto walks over to his team but with a different look about him. Wearing his ninja pants with hair more unkempt than usual, his head band around his neck, a black sleeveless shirt, and a stern emotionless face that's a far cry from the normal kind and caring Kurinto,"..." Kuro stayed silent as he approach the group.

Kiyo soon noticed her friend walking towards them and approached him. "Kurinto-kun? Is everything okay…?" she asked concerned. She felt a heartbeat through her entire body. _Oh no…this…this is the same as before!_

"...Nothing is alright today or any day..." said Kurinto in a monotone voice.

"What's wrong? You know you can talk to me about anything." She smiled trying to cheer him up. She felt the heartbeat again.

"Just leave me alone…" spat Kurinto as he walked towards Kira.

_Something is seriously wrong with him…_Kiyo almost felt like slapping him for that. He spoke like she had done something horrible to him. _WHAT THE FUCK!_

"Why the fuck are late?" Kira began to chastise her student but then her eyes narrowed. "Hn. Never mind, I'm not dealing _your_ dark aura right now."

"I see you are more perceptive than Kiyo is. Kira, I will be taking the day off today for a personal matter, I just thought of giving you the privilege with being nice enough to tell you a head of time." With that Kuro started to merely walk away. Kira didn't want anything to do with what would involve being around whatever the dark aura that is emanating from Kurinto.

Kiyo simply stared at him as he walked away, not knowing what to say to him. Even after he was gone she stared at the path he took. Kira saw that her niece looked trouble due to the boy's behavior, "I'm…I'm gonna go see what's really wrong with him!" she ran off.

"Who the hell said you could do that huh…?" Kira asked no one. '_That boy has certainly had an effect on you, hasn't he? This team will do the three of you brats good.'_

Kuro silently moves about town, grabbing polish from the blacksmith. He notices Kiyo behind him once he reaches the forest and then speeds up by contracting his leg muscles as he jumps to outpace Kiyo as he heads to his target location. _What the hell? What's he hiding?_ Kiyo pushes herself so she can keep up with him without him sensing her.

Kuro slows down as he approaches the memorial of his family but is angered by the sight of vandals so he summons his sword and approaches them yelling, "What the fuck are you bottom feeders doing to my family's memorial! Do you want me to skin you like the animals you are!"

Kiyo hides in the shadows, observing, _What the hell? YOU FUCKING HYPOCRITE!_

The gang leader notice this 'kid' walked up, and he started to say something but is interrupted by Kuro grabbing his arm and with his markings glowing into existence Kiyo gets a full show of what his markings did as his muscles flexed and increase in size. He shattered the gang leader's hand with ease and with that the bandit leader screamed out in pain "What the fuck kid you didn't even let me explain anything!" Kuro simply stomped on the leader knee causing it to shatter.

"What's the point in listening to a dead man?"

_What? His…family's-? Today must be the anniversary or something…and even though those thugs are there….he's not gonna murder them is he?_ Kiyo opted to wait a little bit longer before revealing herself.

Kuro plants his swords in the ground he puts his fist knuckle to knuckle and extend his pinky and thumb to touch each other to form the tempest hand sign, "Titan style: Tempest Blades." he grabs one sword and wraps wind, water, and lightning chakra around his sword, using it to slice the gang leaders arm off causing the other members to run in fear. Kurinto grabs his card blades and uses it to form a chakra strand barrier. "There is NO escape this is where you all die." Kuro said as he makes a tiger and a tempest sign as he holds his hand front of him with his palm up as tempest chakra form in his hands. "I would ask if you had any last words but nothing you say would matter. You damn bottom feeders should just be happy to die at the hand of my Tempest Blast."

"Kurinto-kun no!" Kiyo appeared in front of him holding his wrists; she had tears in her eyes. "Kurinto-kun please don't this, we're ninja-not murderers! I know that they've done is wrong but that doesn't mean you have to kill them!" By the end of her little speech she was sobbing. It scared her to see her friend like that. "Please don't do it."

A memory resonates in Kurinto's head as he remembers the day his parents were killed. _Just as he is about to swear vengeance for his clan his dying father speaks up, "...Kurinto my son don't get swallowed by the lust for vengeance. The way to do our clan justice is to build a memorial, remember us and become a fine young man your mother and I would have been proud of...Good luck my..son... we love you." The elder Masato whispered as he slipped into an eternal slumber._

Kurinto clenches his head and yells as he pushes back his reverse form. Once his expression softens and the warmth returns to his eyes Kurinto starts to tear up as the vandals run for their life. Kurinto turns his head to Kiyo, "I'm sorry it's just there are times when I go through a change and it's not pretty. During this time I become the polar opposite of myself." Kuro uses his free arm to wipes his tears.

Kiyo scrunches up her face to hold back more tears, "Kurinto you jackass!" she hugs him. "I don't ever want to see you like that again…please…" she cried into his shirt and gripped it a little.

"Kiyo, unfortunately I cannot control the night I turn into that person, but it is not very often. I have to master my Tempest affinity to make him disappear." Kuro said dryly.

"Then do it." She said into his shirt, still hugging him tightly.

"I have to defeat him at the Waterfall of Truth and he is the level of a high rank Chuunin possibly even a Jounin. I am not ready yet. If I lose to him I disappear and he lives on." said Kuro.

Kiyo looked up at him, eyes as red as her hair from crying. "Then when you do fight him, don't lose."

"I will but that will be in a few years." said Kuro. He looked up at the memorial with graffiti on it. He put his hand on it and the paint blows off of the memorial and lands back into the paint cans. "I guess I'll put this paint in the shed out here in case I need it ever."

"Uhm…So what was that anyway? I mean, what happened to you? What're _your_ powers?"

"Me? I have three primary chakra affinities: wind, water, and lighting which form my Tempest Element chakra it's my clan's style of jutsu. So far I know two of the jutsu my dad taught me before he died." Kuro picks up his sword and de-summons it and holds the other one up. "These are the blades of the Masato Clan head they, like all the metal here, is chakra metal. Tempest blade is a blade enhancement jutsu and Tempest Blast is a more violent version of the Hyuuga gentle fist strike. In this form Tempest blast can smash a person in to the ground and possibly kill them. I'm trying to figure out what they all do."

"Wow…" Kiyo honestly didn't have any other comment, when she usually has a smartass remark. "I'm gonna pray." She gets down on her knees in front of the memorial and claps her hands to pray. When she's finished she stands and turns back to Kuro. "Hm…let's make a deal…It's obvious you want to keep this a secret and I've got my own to keep. So if you keep mine I'll keep yours and make you lunch when we train since you're so poor."


	5. Meals and Manga

**KO 5: Meals and Manga**

**A/N: Hey It's Kurinto here (yes I am a separate person from the person whose profile it is). I'm sorry I was supposed to upload before the weekend since Kiyo was couldn't get to it, but I forgot D: but can you blame me Skyrim came out, well anyways to make up for the late update we will be giving you a Double the K.O. with both chapter 5 and 6 hope you enjoy :D~ Kuro out :3**

"Hm…let's make a deal…It's obvious you want to keep this a secret and I've got my own to keep. So if you keep mine I'll keep yours and make you lunch when we train since you're so poor." Kiyo smiled brightly.

"Alright but the truth is I'm not…um...never mind, that deal sounds good so you go on ahead and I'll catch up." said Kuro walking over to one of the graves near the center.

"Oh…alright…when you're finished let's go get some lunch, my treat cause, uhm, I never did pay you back for that time at the mall so…uhm…yeah…" Kiyo started walking away.

Kuro knelt down to the headstone and said quietly, "Hey Dad, I'm almost done with the memorial and once I'm done I will visit every anniversary and I'll make sure to be a great ninja and one day bring the clan back and I will lead it with pride. Hell you never know maybe I'll end up an Elder or even the Raikage, but I was never one to look so far in to the future. Well I'm going to head back make sure you tell everyone I love them. Bye I'll visit soon." Kuro finished, pulling out a bottle of sake from his bag and setting it on the head stone.

Kiyo smiled as she heard this, she waited for Kurinto to catch up to her. "You know….when I was praying to them…they actually said something back to me."

"Ah I wouldn't be surprised if you could talk to the dead. So why don't ya tell me what they told you." laughed Kuro.

"They said they love you very much and they're very proud of you." Kiyo smiled brighter than she had in a long time.

"I'm glad I have a friend around that not only stops me from murdering in my reverse form, but also could have heard the message from my family." Kuro said smiling towards Kiyo.

Kiyo blushed, "Oh! I almost forgot." She poked his sides, at his waist.

"Ouch! What? Don't poke me there when I'm not ready. It hurts ya know." Kuro said holding his side.

"That's for being a hypocrite." She huffed.

"What are you talking about Kiyo?" he asked.

"You called those thugs bottom feeders and yet you have the audacity to tell me not to call people commoners." She scolded him.

"Kiyo that was reverse Kuro he is my polar opposite." He stated. "Just about every mannerism and belief I hold he holds the opposite of." Kuro said dryly.

"Still…" she pouted. "It's not cool. I mean, why do you even have something like that-ttebanya? It's not fair to you."

"Well I don't have any idea why I have to live with it, anyways where are we going to go eat Kiyo?"

"Uhm well…how about that one steakhouse restaurant?"

Kuro laughs a bit, "Sure, and they're just called steakhouses."

Kiyo glared at him, he corrected her way too often for her liking. "You want a free lunch or not?"

"Sorry, sorry let's keep going, lead the way Kiyo."

"That's what I thought…" They soon arrive at the fancy steakhouse and are seated.

"I feel awkward here." Kuro said looking at the close reverse Kuro had put him in.

"Meh" Kiyo voiced, not really caring that they were underdressed for the fancy place. "Well, one people should give a shit about what we're dressed like it ain't their business. And two…" she paused dramatically, "they give discounts to ninja."

"Ah, then in that case I'm going to check the menu." Kuro read through the menu and decides what he'll have.

The waitress comes and starts to take their orders, "Hello, boys, my name is Hazuki and I'll be your server this afternoon." She puts down coasters for their drinks. _'O-oh my gosh these two are so hot~!' _she exclaimed in her mind. "What will you two be having today?" she asked ready to take their order.

"I'll have a medium steak cooked rare and a coke with no ice to drink." said Kuro.

"And you s…." The waitress gulped and started bowing and apologizing profusely to the irritated Kiyo. "I'm so sorry Kiyohiko-sama! I didn't realize it was you! Please, please forgive me!"

Kiyo sighed and waved at the girl to get her to stop apologizing, "It's alright…I can't help it if I'm flat-chested…" she looked to the side, depressed. "Anyway, I guess I'll have my usual then, since you finally recognized me, Hazuki-chan." she left to go fill their orders.

"I take it your here a lot Kiyo." asked Kuro.

"Hm? Oh yeah we eat here twice a month so…the employees know us very well. I just haven't been here dressed in commo-erm…ninja attire." She corrected herself before Kuro had a chance to.

"Good you're getting better ha-ha." He laughed.

"You jerk…" she kicked him. Her eyes darted around the dining room until she thought of something to talk about. "So….uhm….do you…like anime?" she asked hoping that he would, otherwise she couldn't think of anything to talk about.

"I don't have any way to watch it remember?" he paused. "But I do read manga like Bleach."

"Oh, well…I don't really read Bleach; I like Soul Eater and Hetalia better." She admitted.

"Meh I usually stick to Senin, I have shounen exceptions."

"Uhm…Senin?" Kiyo asked confused.

"It's more matured manga; I'm not really a fan of gag manga."

"Oh…well for me it's kind of a combination, but most of what I read has romance as the main theme I guess…" Kiyo explained her preference.

"Well I'm not the kind of person who ever cared for that type of stuff." Kuro said dryly.

"Well….why not-ttebanya?" Kiyo asked, slightly curious.

"Well being alone for a long time does that." Kuro said leaning back into his chair.

"How long have you been…alone?"

"Since I was eight, ever since then I cook for myself, cleaned my house, and maintained my house."

Their drinks arrived. Kiyo took a sip of hers, "I only just stared living by myself a year ago. In my situation it's not really all that different from living with my family."

"Well as you can imagine my experience with living by myself in the past and now is very different from yours." said Kuro taking a sip from his drink.

"Eh-heh, yea…I've noticed. Does that mean you can cook well?" she joked.

"Well I guess…I only have cooked for myself."

"Heh…maybe I'll come over sometime and try it."

"Meh, maybe if there is time."

"What do you mean maybe? All the missions we're getting right now are grunt work that normal people are too lazy to do. What do you do in your free time?"

"Hmm let's see I clean, practice cooking, I build stuff, I practice forging charka metal, I exercise, train, and I read manga or clan books." He stated coolly.

"Oh…well all I do is write, sing a little, train, and watch anime and read manga."Just as Kiyo finished saying this their food arrived.

"Alright let's eat." Kuro said digging into his meal.

"Itadakimasu~." Kiyo said eating her food.

When the check came, Kiyo placed a shiny new debit card on the little tray the check came, after the meal was paid for the teammates left the restaurant. Kiyo looked up to sky and saw grey clouds rolling in and soon it started to rain.

"Aw fuck, my house is on the other side of the village almost…" Kuro sighed.

"Mine too but it's that way. Anyway I'll cya later!" Kiyo shouted as she started to run off towards her house.

"See ya..." Kuro Sneezed loudly. "Fuck this isn't good."


	6. The Cold

**KO 6: The Cold**

"What...the fuck-ttebanya!" Kiyo growled at the mansion before her. _That bastard! Making us think that he's poor! What the fuck!_ She looked at the medicine box in her hands. "He just had to go an' sick too, huh?" she sighed. _That jackass…Why do _**I** _have to take care of him? Can't he just go to the hospital or something?_ She groaned and knocked on the front door. "Kuro, open up you bastard!" she yelled.

He heard knocking at the door, _Oh fuck this won't end well maybe if I ignore it…_

"Dammit Kurinto, I know you're in there!" she started banging on the door. "If you don't open up in the next ten seconds I'll break it down!"

"Fuck, well this will be fun." Kuro walks down grabbing an A-shirt, pulls on his ninja shorts and goes to open the door for his angry teammate.

Kiyo punched him in the stomach, hard, all of her rage going into the strike. "YOU ASSHOLE!"

"What the hell was that for! You know I'm sick!" Kuro said trying not to puke on the ground.

"Oh fuck, I dunno! Maybe the fact that you were obviously trying to hide this from your teammate!" she fumed. "Why would you hide something like this in the first place, huh?"

"I have my reason alright..." Kuro said.

"Are you gonna tell me?" she glared at him, enraged.

Kuro sighs, "I'm not using the money my family has for a while, until a certain condition happens…"

"What's the condition? Dattebanya?" she asked, calming down a bit.

"Till I am ready to start working on reviving my clan." Kuro said, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "Or when otherwise necessary."

"Oh…well then…" Kiyo calmed down completely. "Why didn't you say anything sooner?"

"I thought it would be better to keep it a secret."

"Why?"

"I wanted to avoid this situation."

"…And did that work?" she asked mockingly.

"Well I didn't expect someone to take the time to visit me while I'm sick."

"OH uhm….well you are my teammate, I mean…my family _is_ in the healing business so….and…" she held up the small white medicine box. "S-sorry for punching you…"

"Well thanks I guess…it is lonely around her without a friend around."

"So, then are you gonna invite me in or what?"

"Sure, c'mon in!"

"Thank you!" She walked into his home. "Wow~ it's really nice! I wonder if it's as big as mine."

"Your home or your family's?"

"Oh, my family's…" she looked around the room. "Ever since my mom married that man I've never lived in the main estate so I wouldn't really know…."

"Well…" he walks over to the window and shows a giant estate bigger than Kiyo had ever seen, with a garden and pond in the middle.

"Wow…it's beautiful." For the first time since moving to the Cloud village, Kiyo genuinely smiled and looked happy for a moment.

"It took a hell of a time for myself when I was eight to clean all the blood out and bury the bodies though..."

Kiyo felt a heartbeat resonate throughout her entire body. She glared at Kuro again, "Oh yeah, ruin the only happy moment I've had in the three years I've been emo…."

"I'm sorry! It's just with yesterday…kinda…ya know?"

"Yeah, yeah…" she sighed. Her stomach growled. "Got any food?"

"I have some…Give me an idea of what you want."

"Meat…anything with meat is fine with me…"

"Alright it is the morning so I'll go...ACHOOO!" Kuro sneeze so loudly it seemed the room shook.

Kiyo stared wide-eyed at him, not expecting him to sneeze so loudly. She took some Kleenex out of the box gave it to him. "Bless you." She chuckled.

"Thank you. I guess I won't be making food today." Kuro wipes his nose.

"Well….if you show me the kitchen I guess I could make something…Depending on what you have of course."

"The kitchens over there near on the other side of the blacksmith furnace." Kuro plops down onto the couch and pulls out a book.

Kiyo quickly finds the kitchen and looked at his food supply for ingredients. "Hey, anything in particular you want? I mean this is your house so..." she yelled from the kitchen.

"Same thing along your lines."

"'Kay!" she acknowledged. She stood there in the large, fancy kitchen thinking for a few minutes as to what to cook. '_Hmm….haven't had bacon in a while so I'll cook that at least…_' she took the package out of the fridge. She spotted sausage and took that out as well. After finding more ingredients and cooking utensils she finally got started cooking.

After wiping his noise Kuro walked over to there furnace, "Hey I'm practice blacksmithing while I wait for food alright." Kuro pulled his ninja gloves out and started the furnace.

"Oh, okay." She flipped over the bacon. "You know it's your house you don't have to tell me what you're gonna do alright? I'm the one that's supposed to do that…" she watched him while waiting for the food to cook some more.

"Well making chakra metal requires really hot temperatures so I just wanted to warn ya."

"Ah…I hate the heat….Well, thanks for telling me…" Kiyo sweatdropped. The heat made her really uncomfortable in her own skin.

"Oh I absolutely love the heat, what I hate is cold."

"Bleh!" she sticks her tongue out at him. "The cold is so much better."

"Well everyone has their preference _god_." Kuro sticks his tongue out at her.

"Yeah, yeah…" She soon finishes fixing their breakfast and sorts the food out on two plates. _'God…I feel like a housewife or something…'_

"Alright let's replace some of my blade." Kuro says and he starts adding the ingredient of chakra metal.

"Uhm…Kuro? Food's ready."

"One second let me just add charge chakra paper to this." he poured some of his chakra into charka paper and before it reacts he drops it into the mixture.

"So…what does that do?"

"To make this chakra metal you need to charge the paper with chakra and drop it in before it reacts to your chakra nature. You have to be born with the Masato bloodline because my family has the triple element nature."

"Triple element huh? That's kinda cool…My family can actually control an element…"

"Hmm with all the Kekkei Genkai's out there I'm not surprised." Kuro bites into his finger and lets a liberal amount of blood drop into the molten metal.

Kiyo stares at his blood for a moment before realizing she was slowly creeping towards him. "Ah-uhm! It's actually not a Kekkei Genkai; it's just that people like you can't use the ability." _'If you just hurry up and evolve it'd be a different story…'_

"Just like my family's nerve ending are less responsive to pain, our tempest nature, and well I turn into Shiro."

"Shiro? Oh you mean that jackass that possesses your body?"

"Yes, well if my nickname is Kuro, Shiro is the opposite of me."

"That makes sense… what about the nerve ending thing, huh? Lucky bastard…."

"Well the jutsus and Taijutsu style of my family would damage a normal person far too much but my family's body is, in all ways, more durable than average. We have tighter and more flexible muscle fibers, stronger bones, and nerve endings block out pain."

"…You're not…a black blood…are you…?" Kiyo looked at him with question.

"Black blood? What is that?"

"Uhm…don't worry about it, it's not important. Hey why don't we eat breakfast ok?" Kiyo suggested, changing the subject as quickly as she could. _'I can't tell him about that…Even if he is as strong as he says he is…he could be killed by the council…'_

"One sec, I need to do the most important step for this mixture." Kuro forms the hand signs for Tempest blast and shoves his hand into the hot molten metal and pours chakra into the metal and after he pulls his hand out his markings appear over his body.

"And shoving your hand in searing hot liquid metal doesn't hurt or burn?" she asked, concerned.

"Not at all, I've done it a lot since I make my own throwing blades."

"Oh ok then." She sets both their plates down.

"I'm glad my markings don't scare you after seeing Shiro." He smiled.

"Oh uhm…yea, well it's not you or Shiro I'm scared of…it's if people are killed that don't need to be killed, that's what worries me."

"But still he is a part of me."

"Yeah, I know-" A knocking at the front door interrupted Kiyo.


	7. Return

**KO 7: Return**

"Yeah, I know-" A knocking at the front door interrupted Kiyo.

"Hey, who could that be?" Kuro walked to the door and opened it.

"Hey Kurinto, heard you were sick. Ha! You loser…." Kaido chuckled at him.

"Well, look who's back from being punished, we haven't talked in forever man."

"Heh-heh, who's the loser now? Dattebanya~?" Kiyo laughed dryly.

"What the-? Why are you here?" Kaido gasps, "Are you guys dating now?"

"Wait what, what makes you think that?"Kuro questioned his sanity.

"You guys are always hanging out and she's cooking for you, in your own house!" He points to said kunoichi putting said cooked food on plates. Suddenly a steaming hot scrambled egg appeared on Kaido's face, "OW-god it burns!" he yells, frantically trying to get it off.

"You seriously think I'd go out with this guy?" Kiyo said in a demonic voice, looking at Kaido with a face that gave him nightmares for weeks.

"Well any ways I need to finishes these." Kuro says as he starts forming his chakra cards.

"So….where the hell have you been Kaido? Never see you cept for missions anymore…"

"Well Kira doesn't like me sleeping so I get in trouble. It's so stupid man."

"Ah…yes her rude awakenings and punishment….I know them oh so well…" Kiyo gets a depressed look on her face.

"Well it's for the better; ninja should stay alert during their missions not pass out of boredom." Kuro said checking on of the blade he made before sharpening them.

"Shut up, I mean like on the weekends when we have days off. She drags me out of bed and then makes me do push-ups for not being awake at 8:00 in goddamned morning."

"You're not up by 8 am? That's pretty late I'm usually up by 5 am every day." Kuro throws one of the charka cards into a wood dummy in the area.

"I'm not a morning person…" Kiyo practically growls.

"Neither am I. You wake up at 5 am every day, what the heck man how can you live like that?" Kaido asked looking confused.

"Well I live by myself so I have duties in the morning. So basically it's just my morning routine to check the room here, count my ninja gear, pack up my ninja gear, and prepare a nice breakfast for myself." Kuro pulls his pointer and middle finger together and expels chakra in the area as the blade picks up the chakra he extends a Chakra strand to the blade.

"Well…I don't use a lot of ninja gear so I don't need to do that and my apartment is small too, so I don't need to check it. And I usually end up having instant ramen for breakfast since my mom wouldn't let me have a maid or butler anymore to fix my meals for me." Kiyo stretched a little.

"Well you did cook just now; why not do that for yourself in the morning?" Kuro said putting the blades away turning off the furnace he bit into his breakfast, "Not to mention this is really good, Kiyo."

Kiyo blushed from the compliment, "I-I'm too lazy, ok? Dattebanya."

"Seems you're the odd one out here Kuro. Ha-ha. I don't get up and make breakfast almost ever." Kaido said.

"Well anyways" Kuro finished up his plate, "Thanks for coming to visit me while I had a-ACHOO!" Kuro sneezed.

Kiyo jumped on Kaido, startled by the volume of Kuro's sneeze, "B-bless you?"

"Thank you. Well I think I'll go take a nap. Hey Kaido, stay outta trouble man, we missed talking to ya." Kuro said.

"Man I'll try, but I thought you would have enjoyed hanging out with your girlfriend! HAHA!" Kaido said sticking his tongue out.

Kiyo glared at him for a moment. She then proceeded to kick him in the balls, "Say anything like that again and I won't hold back." She walked off, leaving Kaido hunched over, on the ground, in pain.

_Damn that's scary, glad it's not me._ Kuro thought. "Well, see you guys." Kuro walked out of the room to the master bedroom.

"WHAT THE HECK MAN! WHY'D YOU KICK ME IN THE NUTS!" Kaido yelled in pain.

"Oh fuck! I don't know~! Maybe because you're jumping to conclusions! And making fun of me!" Kiyo teared up a little.

"I was just joking GOD." Kaido said obviously mad.

"WELL YOU DON'T JOKE ABOUT SOMETHING LIKE THAT OKAY?" Kiyo screamed at the top of her lungs.

"BOTH OF YOU ARE FUCKING LOUD! MY GOD!" A loud voice from upstairs boomed as loud stomps were heard, a door swung open reveling a pissed Kuro. "Well let's just go and hang out outside of my house since I won't get any sleep."

"Holy shit..." Kaido backed up a bit, "Kiyo let's not piss him off more."

"Ah, fuck, I ain't scared of him-ttebanya."

Kuro gave her a look that could wilt a plant, "What did you say?" Kuro looked a lot like Shiro at this point.

"You heard me. Anyway, just calm down alright. Kaido's sorry for yelling so loudly."

"Alright let's just head out." Kuro's expression softened.

"I guess, but no more nut shots please though…" Kaido said remembering the pain a few minutes ago.

"I ain't making any promises, but as long as you don't joke about that kind of stuff anymore, I won't." Kiyo calmed down as well.

"Alright let's go hang out in the woods near the training ground," Kuro said moving between his two friends.

"As long as we don't run into sensei." Kaido said cringe remember his two days of torture carrying the weights.

"Oh yea, I need my training weights back…" Kiyo reminded him.

"Well let's head out." Kuro opening the door, trying not to laugh.

"You guys wanna race there?" Kaido asked with a mischievous grin.

"Uhm….yea…hell no…" Kiyo sweatdropped, remembering the first time they had trained together.

"Ha-ha, fat chance any of us gonna race your ass." Kuro laughed as he starts to walk towards their training ground.

"Man you guys suck!" Kaido whined.

"Vampires suck….and whores…." Kiyo joked.

"You guys are odd you know that." Kuro sweatdropped.

"Well, you're no fun, you know that?" Kaido said , making fun of him.

"Yea , at least his guy's fun to argue with-ttebanya." Kiyo stated, finally agreeing with Kaido.

"Yea, yea, yea, whatever you two." Kuro said sticking his tongue out.

"HA! You are a kid!"

"Yea for a while I thought you were the oldest!" Kiyo gestured to Kuro's action.

"Hey I can't always be the most mature can I?"

"No, you can't because that doesn't make any sense since Kiyo's the-"

"ACHIT-NYA!" Kiyo sneezed interrupting Kaido.

"Ha-ha sorry about that Kiyo." Kuro laughed seeing he may have given her his cold.


	8. Social Development

**KO 8: Social Development**

A few days later Kiyo had come down with the same cold Kuro had, except this time Kiyo was barely able to comprehend things people would say to her. In a word, discombobulated. She was so weak that she couldn't even cook walk to the kitchen to make something to eat, let alone to the door when her teammates knocked.

"She isn't answering that odd Kira said she was sick and confined at home." said Kaido.

"Here I'll pick the lock, one second." Kuro said pulling a locksmiths tool out of his pack and carefully picked the lock.

"Why do you have that?" Kaido asked.

"Ninjas have to be prepared man." Kuro said opening the door. It revealed Kiyo laying face down on the floor almost unconscious. Her white slip clinging to her sweaty body. "Holy shit what happened? Kaido go find some blanket, I'm going to carry her to the couch." Kuro said.

"Ya I got it man…" Kaido started searching living room for a blanket, finding one in the arm chair across from the couch."I found one Kuro."

"Alright I'll lay her down on the couch and then cover her with the blanket." Kuro picked up Kiyo slightly and gently placed her on the couch and set the blanket over her after Kaido handed it to him.

"Unnn…Kurinto-kun?" Kiyo groaned. "And Kaido-chan...?"

"Hey Kiyo you alright?"Kuro asked as he placed the back of his hand to her forehead to check her temperature.

"Yeah way to give us a fucking scare seeing you on the ground out cold." Kaido said.

"Great Kami what a fucking temperature! What the hell kind bug did you catch?" said a wide eyed Kuro.

"Oh…just a cold…" Kiyo coughed. She smiled wryly, "I'm sorry to worry you. You guys should be out on our day off, not taking take of a pathetic girl like me." She laughed nervously.

"Like we could do that, I mean what else could I do on a day off besides hang out with my teammates…" Kuro said.

"Well Kuro there are _some_ things you could do, you know like-" Kaido stopped himself knowing saying his joke won't end well.

"Nya?" Kiyo tilted her head with slight curiosity as to what Kaido was going to say.

"Not really man. You guys are really the only people I hangout with these days, plus Kiyo, do you think I would leave you behind after what we went through together a few days ago?" Kuro said smiling.

Kaido started laughing, "You realize how easily what you said could be taken the wrong way Kuro."

Kiyo blushed. "U-uhm how rude of me…you guys are my guests. Let me go get you something to drink." She got up and took a couple of steps before almost collapsing again.

"Holy shit!" Kaido quickly caught her and helped her back up on the couch.

"Nice catch Speedy." Kuro said patting Kaido on the back. "I'm going to cook use some homemade ramen alright Kaido you make sure Kiyo doesn't try to get off the couch."

"Ya-ya I got it, but make mine with extra pork." Kaido said with a chuckle.

"Alright anything special you want in your ramen Kiyo?"

"Ice cream~?"

Kuro and Kaido faced palmed, "You can't have ice cream when you're sick baka-hime." Kaido said jokingly cause Kuro to start laughing lightly.

"Nice one Speedy." Kuro said to Kaido.

"Thank you, I'll be here all week...ha-ha." Kaido said with a mock bow.

"Wait you're moving in?" Kiyo asked shocked. "Why wasn't I told this? No one ever tells me anything…" she whined.

"Seems the common cold can affect the brain. This is horrible Speedy." Kuro said in a mock tone.

"Nice one muscles." Kaido said.

"Hey I am to please." Kuro said as he walked off into the kitchen. "Alright I'm getting the food ready."

"Will someone please tell me what's going on~? I'm so confused~!" Kiyo whined even more.

"I could but...this is more fun." Kaido said laying back into the armchair across from the couch.

"You…You big meanie!" she tried and failed to throw a pillow at Kaido.

"Neva gonna catch me." Kaido said easily dodging the pillow.

"You jerk!" Kiyo wrapped herself up in the blanket from earlier. Hiding from him.

"Ha-ha poor little Kiyo out of spunk today." Kaido joked. Kiyo simply whined in response, not having the energy to argue with him anymore for today.

Kuro walked into the living room with three bowls of ramen. "C'mon Speedy can ya go 5 minutes without mocking somone?" Kuro asked setting the ramen bowls in front on whom they were made for.

"I could, but I rather not. Life is more fun this way." Kaido said reaching for his chopsticks and says "Itadakimasu."

"Blah blah blah…well I'm digging in." Kuro said as he began to eat his ramen.

"It looks good~." Kiyo picked up her chopsticks and as she put her food up to her mouth it slipped off onto her lap. "OW~~! It's so hot!" she yelped.

"Hey you alright? I just finish making that stuff." Kuro asked concerned.

"Yea it's just…I'm not used to being weak like this. The last time I had a cold was when I was like four, I think." Kiyo smiled so she wouldn't worry him.

"Well, you got me and muscles to take care of you whenever something happens right?" Kaido said.

"Right, and if you need a place to stay my compound has space ha-ha." Kuro added.

Kiyo started to tear up, "Y-you guys~." She smiled.

"You know what; I didn't expect you to be like this when I first saw ya. I was afraid you would be quiet and depressed or something along those lines, but I'm glad I'm wrong cause it fun for us three to hang out like this." Kuro stated.

"Mhmm I can tell I'm going to enjoy this team." Kaido said after finishing his ramen. The team finished eating their ramen and after that Kiyo went to bed to get some more rest.

As the boys were leaving, Kira showed up. "Is she asleep?"

"I believe she is about to Kira-sensei." Kuro said "Well, see ya tomorrow." Kuro said before heading off in the direction of his compound.

"Ya see ya." Kaido said before he disappears in blinding speed.

"Kurinto wait." Kira grabbed his shoulder. "Walk with me; I need to talk to you about Kiyo." She walked next to him.

"Alright." Kuro said. "What do you want to talk about concerning her?" he asked.

"I wanted to know if she was doing alright…Are you all getting along well?" she asked.

"Well she kinda had some odd habit with addressing people at first but after that was sorted out she's fun to be around. I have a feeling our team will be close." Kuro chuckled. "...Even though she was lividly pissed when she found out I was hiding the fact my family is rich as well." said Kuro.

"I see…" Kira chuckled to herself. "You see…Kiyo didn't have that many friends back when her family lived in Suna. In fact the only friends she did have were there only because of her money- she would buy them candy and toys afterschool. She's too kind and trusting for her own good and that's why when the Kusuri's moved here. She decided to become a ninja, to strengthen her own will and all that jazz."

"Ah I never really hung out with a group of friends when I was a kid after classes at the academy. I would head home and train with scroll from my clan library or practice blacksmithing and keeping my estate in top condition. I'm getting better with time management nowadays so I'm able to have more time to be with my friends, but I never forget to be diligent with training." Kuro said.

"Speaking of…" Kira noted that they had arrived at his mansion. "Once Kiyo gets better you guys will have you first c-ranked mission. So be prepared for that, you hear me?" she waved as she walked off.

_I hope she is going to tell the others, well gotta get packed then._ Kuro thought.


	9. A Real Mission

KO 9: A Real Mission

After Kiyo felt better from her cold, Team 8 gathered at the Missions office in the Raikage building waiting for their new mission briefing from the secretary. This would be their first mission without the help of their sensei, but she believed they had the strength to do this barely C-ranked mission. The secretary handed Kiyo a manila envelope and she put it in a pocket on the inside of her jacket. "Your mission is to deliver this document, from the Kusuri family, to the Saito family in the Northern tip of the country. Pack whatever you may but leave by noon." She dismissed them.

When they met up after pacing for a week's worth trip they meet at the northern end of the village. "Finally we get an actual mission!" Kiyo stretched leading the way.

"Ha-ha, maybe we'll get to beat up some bandits on the way too!" Kaido punched the air in front of him.

"Guys don't let your guard down. This may be our first real mission but any enemies won't give a shit about that fact. You never know if the dynamics of the mission and the difficulty could change." Kuro stated.

"Oh please…" Kiyo started. "Why would anyone want to steal a stupid letter?"

"Ya stop being a party pooper, muscles…" Kaido glared at him.

"Well you never know. There are some freaks out there, didn't you pay attention when we learned about Orochimaru that missing-nin from Konoha…" Kuro stated.

"N-ope!" Kiyo moved her hair off of her glasses, and then adjusted them.

"And that's why you're _dobe._" Kaido laughed.

"C'mon speedy we don't need to be making fun of each other on a mission like this and you shouldn't call someone dobe. Our grade in the academy ranking doesn't matter at all anymore, what matters is that we are a team." Kuro said.

"Yeah! And look at us, we already have a c-rank without Kira! None of the other rookie teams have had one with their sensei!" Kiyo added.

"Isn't that because of me and Kuro?" Kaido smirked.

"You know what I have something to add to this team too!" Kiyo snapped back at him.

"What, you mean Kuro's girlfriend? That doesn't help."

"I'm not his girlfriend!" she yelled.

"Oh come on, you know it's true." He joked.

"NO IT'S FUCKING NOT!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, even making some small animals scatter from within a five meter radius.

"See you're getting mad because it's the truth, it's what girls do." said Kaido

"What would you know anything about being a girl when you aren't one?" she questioned.

"Because they all act the same." Kaido said with a smirk as he put his hand behind his head.

"No we don't!" Kiyo spat at him, insulted by the assumption.

"From what I've seen you do." Kaido stuck his tongue out.

"What! What have you seen me do?" she inquired.

"Cause you were cooking for your boyfriend, Kuro." Kaido said speeding up a bit.

Kiyo threw one of her ankle weights at his head. "HE'S NOT MY BOYFRIEND!"

"FOR THE LOVE OF KAMI WILL YOU TWO ACT LIKE NINJA AND NOT KIDS? WE ARE ON A FUCKING MISSION! IF EITHER OF YOU SAY ANYTHING BEFORE WE GET TO THE CAMP SPOT WE MAPPED OUT I'M KICKING BOTH YOUR ASSES!" Kuro snapped.

Kiyo and Kaido sweatdropped but listened to their teammate. He was right, they were acting like kids. But only because they still were. A few hours later they arrive at the camped ground they had agreed on before they set out.

"Alright we're here. Me and Kiyo will go get firewood, and Kaido since you started that whole thing you have to set up camp." Kuro ordered

"Why…..?" he whined as the two older ninja walked off.

"…Am I really a burden to this team? I mean I know I was in last place at the academy, but that was only because I didn't do class work." Kiyo said, picking up a few sticks for the fire. "But we also haven't had a mission where I've done well. Kaido's right, you guys are the reason we're on this mission. It doesn't even matter that the letter is from my family." She started to get depressed about the subject.

"Kiyo you know Kaido was just joking…You're not a burden, I've seen your test scores I don't know why you never did the normal work, but you're not a failure of a ninja alright?" Kuro smiled.

Kiyo blushed. "R-really? You think so?" she cheered up. "Sorry for bothering you about it then."

"It's alright I don't mind at all. If anything is bothering you come to me, I'll always listen." He said.

"Alright-ttebanya." After gathering enough wood they return to camp where Kaido had successfully set it up.

"What took you guys so long?" Kaido asked from his nap spot inside the large tent.

"Well we got lost on the road of life." Kuro joked.

"Dattebanya. For some reason that sounds like something a scarecrow would say…" Kiyo pointed out.

"Scarecrows can't talk…That makes no sense!" Kaido argued.

"All right so I'm going to start the fire then relax by it." Kuro said.

"Oh wait…" Kiyo pulled something out of her pocket. "Use this." She threw him a small red lighter with her clan symbol in green.

"Why do you carry that around?" Kaido asked.

"We should save the fuel in that lighter just in case." Kuro said as he pulled out his flint. "We can use this instead. If it rains and we need a fire inside a cave after words we'll use that." He threw it back to her.

"Alright, I keep it around just in case ok?"

"No, it's not ok!...I'm hungry." Kaido stated as stomach growled.

Kuro face palms. "Well I could go catch some fish or hunt some animals."

"Oh!" Kiyo went to her backpack and came back with three bentos and drinks. "I made you guys something." She handed Kuro the black one, Kaido the purple one, and Kiyo kept the red one for herself. Kiyo's had very rare steak and a variety of sushi. Her drink was root beer.

"I bet it tastes horrible." Kaido said before opening it up. He changed his mind when he saw it was filled with cookies. It also had a few rice balls and he had green tea as his drink.

"Well I bet it'll taste great like the breakfast you made when I was sick." Kuro said taking his bento. His had grilled chicken with fries, and he drank pine needle tea. "How'd you know what my favorite tea was?"

"Uhm….lucky guess?" Kiyo shrugged.

"You really are his girlfriend aren't you?" Kaido dead panned.

"Well anyways thanks for making us food." Kuro said to her. "And I'm digging in." he said as he began eating.

As they were cleaning up their food mess and suddenly a small purple ball rolls into the middle of the camp before exploding.

"A smoke bomb!" Kiyo exclaimed.

"What the heck man?" Kaido whined.

"Shit." Kuro summon his swords and sheaved them as he pulled out some of his card blades. "Get ready because this mission just got serious."


	10. New Kid

**KO 10: New Kid**

"Alright everyone, settle down!" The sensei clapped her hands. "We have a new student transferring from Suna Academy. You can come in now."

The door opens and a 5' 4" tall, olive skinned, red-haired girl walked in. She wore the black and navy, sailor styled uniform with a dark grey undershirt with black thigh high socks and brown knee high boots with red laces. Her bright red hair was tied in two pony tails with black ribbon and she had dark circles around her pale green eyes. She pushed up her red glasses and held onto the orange and black fox charm on her brown messenger bag to calm her nerves. "H-hello, I'm Kiyo." She blushed as most of the guys in class stared at her…or rather her large chest.

"Why don't you go have a seat next to the class president." The sensei suggested and motioned for him to stand.

A 6' 5" tall boy with light skin, cerulean eyes, and golden hair stands. He wears the black, navy trimmed shirt and pants uniform. "Oi welcome to our class Kiyo, I'm Kurinto Masato, but you can call me Kuro."

"O-okay…" she sat in the desk next to him. _He seems familiar somehow…like I've meet him in past life or something…_

At the end of classes Kuro approached Kiyo. "Alright since your new to school why don't I show you around." Kuro said motioning Kiyo to follow him.

"A-alright…" Kiyo caught up with him. "Say…have we met before? Cause you seem scary familiar-ttebanya."

"I don't think so. I've never been to Suna myself. Well anyways, this is the meeting room for the student council. To be honest I haven't run into the vice president all day I wonder where he i-" he sees a dark skinned boy with cream colored hair sleeping in the room. "One sec Kiyo-chan." He walks over to the vice president, getting right next to his ear he yells, "WAKE UP LAZY ASS!"

"What the heck man? I was just taking a nap. I don't have class till 9 am remember?" Kaido cried.

"That would be great but its FUCKING 2PM!" Kuro said with an eye twitch. "You're the vice president of the student body you should act like one."

"But if I do that, I'll get the annoying fan girls like you ha-ha." Kaido said stretching.

"You get used to it, it's not that bad man." Kuro said.

"Uhm, yea hi…still here." Kiyo sweatdropped. _I swear I know them from somewhere…_

"Ya sorry about that Speedy here can be such Lazy ass." Kuro laughed.

"Ya well at least I'm not a damn perfectionist like Muscles here."

"A perfectionist? How so?" Kiyo wondered.

"He gets perfect marks in everything, can best anyone at any sport, and is all around best at everything." Kaido said.

"C'mon man your making me sound like an elitist asshole. I just do my best at everything and relax I really even study, I mean you're the person I hang out with all the time you should know that Speedy, and plus you're faster than me, so I'm not best at everything..." Kuro said rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

"Hey, so are we ever gonna see the school-ttebanya?" Kiyo asked getting somewhat impatient about it.

"Ha-ha sorry about that Kiyo-chan." Kuro said laughing nervously.

"Can't you handle this President Muscles?" Kaido said yawning. "I'm heading home I'll probably have a bunch of make up work to do." Kaido said waving bye to them as he walked out of the room

"Lazy ass..." Kuro sweatdropped. "Well after I show ya around we'll head to the mall alright?"

"Uhm…" Kiyo blushed. "Ok…but can you stop calling me 'chan', I'm not your girlfriend and I'm pretty sure I'm older than you."

"Alright then I'll just call ya Kiyo, didn't mean anything by the 'chan'. Well let's head out." Kuro said as he opened the door.

As the two are walking to the mall, Kuro takes them through a shortcut behind a building. They encounter a local gang of five juveniles from their school. "Heh-heh-heh…" The leader of the gang chuckles. "Fancy meetin' ya here…Masato."

"Well I thought I smelled crime. Shouldn't you guys be studying to bring your poor grades up? Seriously." Kuro said.

Kiyo shifted slightly towards Kuro. "Uhm…who are these guys?" she asked.

"They're just a bunch of losers from our school, don't pay attention to them Kiyo." Kuro said.

"You're the fucking loser!" the leader yelled at him.

"Hey…You're pretty cute…" another member of the gang winked at Kiyo.

"So we get to beat up Masato AND take his girlfriend? Sweet." A third member added.

"I'm not his girlfriend!" Kiyo punched the second member in the face, knocking him out.

"You bitch!" A fourth one bitch slapped Kiyo to the ground.

"Wow you guys really are losers if you have to gang up on her." Kuro said slipping in between them and Kiyo. "I thought you were big bad gang members who were too 'cool for school'. Well all I see is a bunch of losers who lack the strength to prove that they can actually be anything but."

Out of anger two members started attacking him. "What the fuck would ya know? Ya fucking goody-two-shoes!"

Kuro smirked as he slid in between them and smashed their heads together. "Tsk, tsk, tsk…It seems your fighting ability is as bad as your grades, Denji how about you call off your boys before I have to hurt you guys again."

"My name is Dragon King!" Denji yelled as he took a swing at him.

"I guess I'll have to take extreme action." Kuro said as he side-stepped his punch and then grabbed his wrist snapped it, pulled him closer as he kneed him into the stomach and then he chopped his back. "Maybe this will teach you a lesson Denji."

"This isn't over Masato-teme!" Denji yelled but Kuro roundhouse kicked him in the side of the head knocking him out, Kuro then gave the last member a death glare scaring and causing him to run in fear. "You alright Kiyo, you need some help? You hit the ground hard." Kuro asked concerned.

"I-I'm fine…" she looked away blushing. "I don't need help from you." She got up and brushed off the dirt.

"It's just I used to be friends with Denji but the fact I did so well in school kinda made him angry when we were 12 and we had a falling out. Sorry you got dragged into this because of me…" Kuro said looking at the group depressed.

"Well…at least you had friends…" Kiyo muttered.

"Well sometimes they were fake ones trying to get an answer to a test or something like that. My only real friend since freshmen year is Kaido." Kuro said as he began walking back towards the mall.

Kiyo followed him. "All of my so called friends were fake, they used me and family's wealth to get toys and stuff like that, that they wanted…People think being abundantly rich is awesome, but it's not. All the deceit and responsibility and the stress that come with it…it…it's not worth it!" she cried.

"We'll one thing is sure, at least today we each found a real friend." Kuro smiled.

"H-huh?" she blushed again. "But I hardly know you, Masato-kun…"

"Well I know we'll both be great friends. I also bet you'll get along with lazy ass." Kuro laughed.

"I-I don't know…I have a feeling all I'd do is fight with him over trivial matters and then you'd get annoyed and yell at us….but that's just a feeling…" Kiyo stated.

"Well let's just find out. Anyways we're at the mall." Kuro said point to the huge Kumo city mall.

"Wow~ it's so big~!" her eyes sparkled with delight. "Wait…that's what she said." Kiyo smirked.

"Baka..." Kuro facepalmed. "Anyways let's head to the food court."

"Wait…its fast food right? That means there's no need for forks or whatever right?" she questioned.


	11. Gakuen Genjutsu

**KO 11: Gakuen Genjutsu**

"Wait…its fast food right? That means there's no need for forks or whatever right?" she questioned.

"What are you talking about?" Kuro said confused what she was going on about.

"Just felt like I needed to ask that. I've never really had fast food before." She laughed.

"That's odd oh well I'm not that hungry let's just get milkshakes." Kuro said as they walked by a group of people.

"Kuro-kun~!" a girl latches onto Kuro's arm. "I'm so happy to see you here~!" she squealed. "Who is that?" she glared at Kiyo.

"I'm Kiyo and you're fucking annoying." She stated bluntly.

"She's a friend of me and Speedy. Suki she already had the displeasure of meeting Denji." Kuro said.

"OH…" Suki gave her a look of pity. "I'm so sorry…"

"It's not that…I can tell you're a fangirl. And fangirls like you are just fucking annoying." Kiyo glared at her.

"You're one to talk! Trying to take MY Kuro-kun away from me!" Suki lashed back.

"WHAT?" Kiyo squeaked. "Do you want me to break your arms!" she threatened.

"You couldn't even if you tried." Suki mocked her.

"Do want me to? Cause I will!" Kiyo grabbed one of her arms.

"That's it you two calm down." Kuro pulled Kiyo off Suki's arm. "Kiyo is a new student so I'm showing her around the mall, so you can calm down Suki. C'mon Kiyo I'm hungry; I'll see you in class tomorrow Suki alright." Kuro said walking off.

Kiyo caught up to him. "I need to go to the rest room just order for the both of us ok?" She almost ran to the restroom, not even waiting for to acknowledge she said that. '_What the fuck is happening to me?' _She put her hand on her chest, her heart was beating a mile a minute and she could barely breathe. Her body and teeth ached so badly. She looked into the mirror, her eyes were turning as red as her hair and her pupils looked like a cat's. Her hair was getting darker too. She splashed water on her face to make sure she wasn't high. She tried to just go ahead and deal with this strange feeling she had throughout her body. "Sorry about that Masato-kun." She apologized.

"It's alright. Something wrong Kiyo?" Kuro asked obviously concerned.

"Oh no its noth-" Kiyo collapsed.

"Holy shit Kiyo!" Kuro catches her, "What the hell just happened?" Kuro set her on a bench and took his jacket off and set it under her pillow as he checks her pulse. "Oh Kami she...she's dead." Kuro thought as the world around him started warping and morphed into a wasteland, "What the hell is going on her-" Kuro was interrupted as a Kunai zooms past his eyes. He looks to see hundred of Denji look-a-likes and as he looked at them they screamed, "DIE MASATO-TEME!" Kuro panic and began fighting back after kicking a Denji swiftly in the ribs he saw two familiar swords on the ground; they were both black with a dark blue hilt with blue detailing on the blade he thought to himself. _They're so familiar but I don't know why_…but his thought was cut off by Denjis attacking him with kabanas. He quickly picked up the sword on the ground and all his memories hit him like a ton of bricks. "What the hell is happening?"

Kuro gets ready to defend himself when he heard, "What the hell you red-head freak why'd you bite me?" the genjutsu fails and he is tied up in a plain building. He promptly breaks the rope binding and sees Kiyo biting someone, who looks like a ninja, in the neck but what really concerns him is she when she pulls her...'teeth' from her he saw that something had changed about her. And not just the fact that her long hair was down either.

"Kiyo what's going on? Why are your eyes red and why do you have fangs? And most importantly, why are you biting an enemy ninja?" Kuro questioned.

Kiyo hissed at him. Kiyo didn't hear him, she _couldn't_ hear him. She was in a state much like a jinjuuriki was when they would lose control over their biju. She took a defensive stance and her nails grew like talons. She then darted with almost lightning speed towards him. She straightened her hand and by instinct, Kuro moved. Kiyo aimed for his head, and with Kuro moving she scratched is cheek in the same spot it had been scratched by Kira. She used her hand like a dagger and pierced through an enemy using an invisibility jutsu, killing him.

_Well this is...interesting._ Kuro thought.

Kiyo drew her hand back, covered in blood. She licked some off and then spit out. "This is horrible." She had a bit more control over herself now that she at least had tasted blood.

"Hey Kiyo is that you in there?" Kuro asked.

"Of course it's me." She smirked. She walked over to some henchmen with scared looks on their faces. She smirked more, "Boo." She almost whispered as they ran for their lives.

"Well seems I'm not the only one with a secret..." Kuro said.

"Mine is slightly…drastically different from yours…" Kiyo explained. Her heart throbbed, she felt the beating throughout her body, and her fangs grew even longer. She looked at the dark-skinned, purple haired girl dressed in school uniform-esque ninja attire she had bitten earlier, her heart throbbed more. Kiyo had been distracted before when Kuro broke out of the bindings so she wasn't able to bite the girl. In an instant she appeared in front of the girl.

"Wha-what do you want?" she cried.

"Your blood." Kiyo stated. She embraced her as she pulled her collar down again. She licked the lowest part of her neck where it met her shoulder. She Kiyo bit the girl as she screamed out in slight surprise. To Kiyo, this girl's blood was like premium chocolate, best enjoyed in small amounts but still overwhelmingly delicious and satisfying.

"Well considering your, no cutting of limbs and stomping on knees to make others suffer before you kill them like Shiro does, no matter what you think because of Shiro I can never look down at someone who is in a similar situation." Kuro said.

As she finished feeding on the girl, Kiyo let her fall to the ground. "Kya~! That was so good~!" she licked excess blood off her lips. "Oh…but you see," she flipped hair, "I'm not even human."

"Go on…" Kuro says raising his eyebrow as he asks the question.

"I'm a vampire-ttebanya." She deadpanned. "We came here from a different continent a long time ago, but…I'm the last one to awaken." She held out her hand towards a puddle of water in the floor, it gathered into a ball floated up in the air. She smirked again. "And apparently I'm a _mizu_."

"Well human or not, you're still part of the squad, and your still my friend, Kiyo." Kuro said with a smile.

Kiyo sensed someone walking into the room. They came in clapping, "Bravo! _Bravo_! I had only expected to possibly destroy the Kusuri clan, but to have their daughter-a vampire no less in my midst, well." The woman chuckled. "This is just simply divine."

"Who're you?" Kiyo shouted.

"My name? It's Eigo…but no real use in knowing that since you'll soon be dead." She grinned.

"Well someone seems confident." Kuro said eyeing the new arrival for any sign of attack from her.

"You're the one that's gonna die!" Kiyo shouted. She summoned her spear. The flat end glowed for a moment as it got longer and a meter long blade appeared. She stood sideways with the blade circling the right side of her body, towards Eigo.

"Well this is interesting..." Kuro sides steps and picks up the sleeping form of Kaido. "We better keep out of the way." Kuro then moved back to the back of the room not wanting to get in the way of this fight while his teammate isn't really cognitive.

"A scythe huh?" Eigo threw several kunai at Kiyo as she jumped back to make some hand signs. "Nature style: Entanglement Jutsu!" Vines and braches break through the floor, walls, and ceiling, trapping the three Cloud genin and the kunoichi Kiyo bit earlier. Kiyo struggled, trying to move her scythe to cut the plants, but the more she struggled the tighter they got. Eigo chuckled again, "It's pointless…" she appeared in front of her and took the letter from Kiyo's family. "They're going to strangle you anyway, but moving around like that will only make the process quicker." She left the hideout leaving the four to die with her ninjutsu.


	12. Vines and Blood

**KO 12: Vines and** **Blood**  
><em>AN: Since the story hasn't been getting any reviews after the next chapter there will be no more posts until there are at least 5 reviews for the story.  
>AN: #2: Woot~! Five reviews~ Weekly updates will continued as scheduled~~! :DD_

"They're going to strangle you anyway, but moving around like that will only make the process quicker." Eigo left the hideout leaving the four to die with her ninjutsu.

"Hey Kiyo can you hear me?" Kuro asked her after he was sure the shrewd Eigo was far enough away from the building.

"Yea…damnit!" she punched the air and the vines tightened around her body suddenly, she coughed blood. "Shit…I can't move to control the water in the vines…"

"So I guess you have some explaining to do about your secret." Kuro said.

For a minute she didn't answer, trying to decide how to word her explanation. "…First of all, we can walk in daylight and the people we bite don't die and they don't become vampires either…"

"Well why didn't you tell me?"

"…Back in my village there's a jinchuuriki there too and they treat him like shit…And since he's a human I was afraid of what people might think of me…Someone who isn't human…" She wasn't resisting the vines anymore. "I never know what people might think."

"Well unlike you, I don't give a shit what people think. So why do you think I would treat you different?" Kuro said.

"It's not personal or anything like that, I just…I have a hard time trusting people since I got this scar…" she pointed to her face.

"Well I thought you knew you could trust me."

"I thought I could trust the girl who gave this to me…She was my best friend and when I told her about the vamp thing she pushed me into some sharp rocks. That's how I got the scar…" She paused. "The next day when I went to school, my dog was missing and when I got there, she and my other so-called friends had a kunai to my dog's throat. I was able to get the kunai away but two of the guys restrained me and she hit me across the face with a pole. That's where these dark circles are from. Then I watch with blurred vision as they beat my dog to death. After that I blacked out, when I came to the entire classroom was bloodstained and I was standing in the middle of my dead classmates. And that's when and why I moved to Kumo." She took a moment to breathe deeply for the vines were starting to restrict her lung capacity. "So whenever someone hurts me or someone I care about, I have these…psychotic episodes and I kill everything in my path until I'm satisfied."

"Well your past seems like a cake walk compared to mine..." Kuro said "You still had a family to go back home to."

"True…" Kiyo said agreeing with him. "But…How are we gonna get outta here?" The vines got tighter. "Ahhh!"

"Well ya know I can just…" Kuro break the vine binding himself, "do this…"

"I've been trying…Can't you just break them for me?" Kiyo motioned for him to come over.

"Well maybe if I try using my blades." Kuro pulls out his scrolls and summons his swords but noticed something changed about them. "Whoa, when did this happen?"

Kiyo noticed the intricate design on his swords. "What's with your swords-ttebanya?"

"I-I don't know this pattern. Th-they are the defining trait of Damascus steel which is the strongest form of steel and for chakra swords to somehow turn Damascus is a big deal. This hasn't happened since our founder..." Kuro said wide-eyed.

"Oh wow…but uhm can we figure that out later? These vines are, like, really _really_ tight." She struggled to breathe.

"Alright let me give this a try." Kuro tries to cut the vines but fails to. "Well I guess I'll have to use a jutsu." Kuro stabs his swords into the ground and form the Tempest hand sign, "Tempest blast!" Unlike past times where the chakra would roughly wrap around the sword, the water and wind chakra all flowed downwards, the lightning neatly wrapping around the sword and struck the thickest vine, spreading a layer of chakra across all the vines holding Kiyo and frees her. "Holy Shit this is new."

"Owww…Dammit! Those vines were holding me so tight they cut me-ttebanya." Kiyo held up her arms, almost covered in a bright blue liquid.

"You alright?" Kuro said noticing her bleeding, "I'm guessing the blue blood has something to do with vampires lacking of red blood cells?"

"Uhm…yea that's actually right…" Kiyo shrugged at him. "Oh they're healed," She looked at her arms again. "Oh crap…my shirt…" she whined. Her shirt had been torn through by the vines. She took it off, revealing her fishnet and wrappings underneath. She blushed from the expose of skin and her weird tan line that stopped in the middle of her upper arms as the pigment faded from tan to an ivory skin tone. She wiped her arms off with the torn shirt and dropped it on the ground. "At the very least that bitch is paying for a new one." She grabbed her scythe.

"You want to borrow my vest till we get back Kiyo?" Kuro asked.

Kiyo blushed more, but accepted his offer. "Though this barely covers anything really…I still feel…naked somehow…" she mumbled.

"Well let's break Kaido out of the Genjutsu and wake the sleeping idiot." He walks over and notices Kaido isn't in the Genjutsu, just asleep, and sweat drops. "He really is a lazy ass."

Kiyo noticed some markings on Kuro that weren't there earlier peeking out from under his muscle shirt. "Uhm Kuro? Those markings appeared again…" she pointed out.

Kuro looked at his arms, "No they didn't." Kuro said.

"But…Oh never mind…" Kiyo just dropped the subject not wanting to get in any kind of argument right now.

_I wonder what she was talking about…_ Kuro thought, making a mental note to check his back later. "Well I believe you should have the honor of waking Speedy ya know for revenge." Kuro gave a slightly evil grin as he walked passed Kiyo.

Kiyo smirked evilly back, "I do believe you are right my friend." She walked up to the sleeping boy and whacked him in the face, hard, with pole of her scythe. "DATTEBANYA!"

"OWW WHAT THE HECK MAN THAT HURT!" Kaido cried holding his head in pain.

"That's what you get for falling asleep you jackass!" Kiyo yelled back at him.

Kuro chuckles as he walks towards them, "Well I believe we still have an enemy ninja to take out right guys?"

"Fuck yea! That bitch owes me a shirt!" Kiyo pumped her fist in the air with the scythe.

"Wait a sec…" Kaido notices Kiyo wearing Kuro's vest. "You're wearing his vest. You really are his girlfriend ha-ha!" Kaido laughed as Kuro facepalmed.

An intense murderous aura came from Kiyo. "BAKA-ERO!" she screamed as she started swinging her scythe at him.

"Hey guys we are still on a mission. Can we save the fighting for after? Let's get a move on!" Kuro said as he kicked down the door and sheaved his swords behind his back.

"Wait…what about her?" Kiyo pointed to the girl Eigo had left behind. "I think she got abandoned."

"Well I guess we gotta bring her along, so Kaido carries her." Kuro stated.

"What the hell? No Kuro you have to carry her! What the heck are you trying?" Kaido protested not amused in the least.

"Hey can't blame a guy for trying." Kuro laughed. "Alright I'll carry her." Kuro picked her up almost like a human backpack.

"Be careful with her! Anyway I think we should finish the mission and rest at the Reizei family mansion." Kiyo suggested.

"What about the letter?" Kaido pointed out.

"Oh I have another one in my backpack at the camp."

"Really and you didn't tell us." Kuro deadpanned.

"Well what if they had someone who could interrogate us? Plus…what if the other one got lost and then the communication got screwed up between mine and the Reizei's and then they'd kill you guys or me…" Kiyo over thought what could've happened.

"Ok we get it. Just stop it; you're giving me a head ache." Kaido's eye twitched.

"**You** give me a migraine!" Kiyo punched him.


	13. An Old Friend

**KO 13: An Old Friend**

Kiyo knocked on the door to the Reizei family mansion, a moment later a butler opened it. "Ah, Lady Kiyohiko we have been awaiting your arrival." He bowed and moved to the side revealing many maids and butlers lining the entryway.

A girl stood in a black and red Lolita dress at the top of the grand staircase opposite the front door. Her long sky blue hair in ponytails and teal eyes stood out against her dark brown skin. "Kiyo-nee-sama~!" she jumped on her.

"Misaki~! It's been forever! How are you?" Kiyo hugged her best friend tightly.

"I'm good. Is this your team? Are they treating you well? What're your names? Hi, I'm Misaki! Nice to meet ya!" the younger girl shook the boy's hands hyperly.

"I'm Kurinto Masato." He said.

"Masato, as in righteous person?" Misaki asked. "I don't know what Kurinto means though…"

"I have no idea either. By the way my friends call me Kuro."

Misaki gasped. "I'm your friend too~?" her eyes sparkled.

"Ya, any friend of Kiyo's, is a friend of me." Kuro said.

"And I'm Kaido Tsukizawa."

"As in not serious until someone dies and…moon?" she questioned him. "That…doesn't make any sense…"

"What are you talking about?" Kaido asked confused.

"The meaning of your name? What else?"

"Uhm…yeah sorry about Misaki. She's kind of…" Kiyo started.

"Spaztastic!" Misaki finished and put up a peace sign.

"Well at least it means that she'll never be boring." Kuro laughed.

"Who's…she?" Misaki pointed to the sleeping kunoichi that had been abandoned by Eigo.

"She's uhm…" Kiyo whispered into Misaki's ear. Her eyes widened slightly then she nodded with understanding. "Oh! Here ya go." Kiyo handed the letter to her.

"Hey thanks, Daisuke could you take the boys to their quarters for now? Daitaro could you please take the girl to our infirmary?"

"As you wish, Lady Misaki." The butlers closest to her bowed. One of them, Daitaro, took the violet-haired girl to infirmary. "If you kind sirs will please follow me…" The other one, Daisuke, walked up the grand staircase, to the left. While Kiyo, arm now linked with Misaki's, went up to the right, towards her parents study. Daisuke lead the boys to their rooms for the time they would be staying there. "I hope you find everything to your liking. Dinner shall be ready in an hour, if you anything please let one of our many attendees know."

"By any chance would there be a blacksmith's forge anywhere on this manor?" Kuro asked.

"Ah...right this way sir." A nearby maid said and motioned for him to follow. She took him to a separate building about 20 meters away from the mansion itself. "Use it to your content, Lord Kurinto."

"Thank you." Kuro said removing his A-shirt setting it carefully by the door.

The maid blushed, "Wh-why are you taking off your shirt milord?"

"Well when you are blacksmithing there is a lot of heat, so it's better to go shirtless so that I don't have to worry about my shirt being soaked with sweat." Kuro said as he grabbed gloves and started adding ores to the furnace.

"O-oh…alright milord." She bowed.

"I AM NOT PUTTING THAT THING ON!" Kiyo roared from the other side of the mansion.

"What the hell, that Kiyo?" Kuro asked confused.

"Ah well I do believe that was Lady Kiyohiko. I will go check on her and Lady Misaki. Please call for a servant if you need anything." The maid bowed and quickly but gracefully ran to the young girl's room.

"Alright let see if I can get this thing made…" Kuro set a sketch on the table showing what looked like a modified Kunai.

Kaido, who was sleeping, jumped when he heard Kiyo yell. "AH!" falling face down he mumbled still half asleep to the floor, "What heck man I was having such a great nap…"

"NO! YOU CAN'T MAKE ME!" Kiyo yelled more. "AH WAIT THAT DOESN'T GO THERE! DATTEBANYA~!" Kiyo whined. But soon after that outburst it got really quiet.

"Good nice and quiet." Kaido smiled as he got back up into the bed and drifted off back to sleep. But soon his sleep was interrupted again as a butler told him dinner was ready. He was the first in the dining hall, and then Kuro arrived, with Kiyo and Misaki being last there.

Kiyo had on a white and pink Lolita dress with white stockings and black bows. Her long red wavy hair was down and her bangs were brushed to the side. Her face, as red as her hair. "If you guys tell anyone back at the village that I looked like this, I _will_ castrate you!"

"Got it." they both gulped.

"By the way where is my vest you were wearing?" Kuro asked.

The maid from earlier brought his vest to him. "H-here it is m-milord…" she handed it to him as she blushed.

"Oh god…not _another_ one…" Kiyo facepalmed.

"Wait what?" Misaki tilted her head in slight confusion.

"Oh nothing~ I'll tell you later." Kiyo said.

"It's something that just happens around Kuro. A lot of girls he meets like him…like Kiyo." Kaido added sticking his tongue out.

"Oh god not again." Kuro zipped his vest on and pulled the straps across himself leaning on the wall to avoid the coming storm.

"I-It's not like that between us, you jerk!" Kiyo blushed madly.

"Are you sure? Cause I'm not convinced." Kaido laughed.

"J-just shut up ok? I hate it when you tease me like that! It's not cool-ttebanya!" Kiyo teared up and ran off.

"Nee-sama!" Misaki ran after her.

Daisuke walked over to Kuro. "Are they always like that Lord Kurinto?"

"Yeah...unfortunately for me." Kuro said.

"If you don't mind me asking…How old are you sir?"

"Oh I'm 14. Although my birthday is March 24th so I turned it recently, I know I don't act my age and my stature betrays it." Kuro laughed lightly.

"I see. I understand your comrade's teasing though…"

"I'm not sure what you mean, I just think they like giving me a headache, but I guess it is entertaining, like having siblings, but I wouldn't know."

"I have known Lady Kiyohiko for many years now…In that whole time I have never seen or heard of her even speaking to a young man. Let alone being associated with one." Daisuke explained.

"Ya she kinda had a social shell around her at first, but she let it down and we pulled her out." Kuro said with a smile.

"I truly believe this team is good for her. Have you met her parents? Her…birth parents that is…"

"No, I guess not. The way you mention it, it sounds like she doesn't live with her birth parents."

"She lives alone you know. She was living with her mother and stepfather but her mother's side found out about…They despise her. Her father's whereabouts are constantly changing." Daisuke explained more. "But I believe the young mistress will get angry at me if I reveal anymore."

A stomach growl is heard from the table. "So when do we eat?" Kaido asked.

"When the mistresses come back, dinner will be served milord…"

"Basically Kaido if you didn't make her run off you would be eating now." Kuro scorned.

"Well now that you say that it was still worth it." Kaido laughed.

"I'll never understand why you do that Kaido." Kuro sweatdropped.

"Aww~ things'll be ok Nee-sama~!" Misaki hugged Kiyo as they walked back into the dining hall.

"Yea, yea…" Kiyo glanced at Kaido, and then glared at him. "So…Daisuke-san what's for dinner?" she asked he seated her.

"Well Lady Kiyohiko, tonight we have steak and broccoli for the main course and green tea and pine needle tea as your choice for beverage." He responded coolly.

"Pine needle Tea?"Kuro asked wide eyed.

"Yes milord that is what I said."

"Can I have that?" Kuro said sounding like he was trying to contain excitement.

"You finally gettin' excited over somethin' Kuro?" Kiyo joked.

"..."Kuro was busy drinking the tea slowly.

"I don't think he heard you." Kaido said.

Both the girls pretended to not hear his comment. "I don't think he heard you~." Misaki repeated.

"That's because he finally found his real girlfriend-the tea!" Kiyo laughed.

"That not nice anyways I already…wait never mind." Kuro said as he put his cup down.

Misaki and Kiyo gasped. "You're cheating on the tea how cruel~!" they giggled.

"Well actually my mom made this for me when I was little so it remind me of her." Kuro said looking at his cup smiling.

"Aw~ that's so cute~." Misaki smiled.

"Minus the sad part of that story." Kaido said as he trailed off into another nap.

Kiyo kicked him underneath the table. "My mom doesn't really cook, but I remember one time when I sick as a kid my dad made me this really delicious green tea. I felt so much better after I drank it. He makes the best home-remedies." Kiyo smiled as she looked back at her childhood memories of her father. "Wait…you said never mind again…"

"Yeah what do you mean?"

"Remember that time at the mall when you almost told me about _your_ fortune? You said never mind then too." Kiyo told him.

"So what does that have anything to do with something now?"

"Oh c'mon~ just tell me what you're hiding…Or else I'll poke you in the side…" she threatened.

"Ok alright...truth is I have a girlfriend she is from Konoha. I didn't want to tell you guy's because I wanted to surprise you by introducing her at the chuunin exams since she got selected ambassador to Kumo. Just like Akito from our village is going to be sent to Konoha as our ambassador to them." Kuro said.

"You…have a girlfriend? From Konoha?" Kiyo seemed troubled by this.

"Ya but she can't be part of the chuunin exams, because once it's over she is coming back to Kumo with us and being added to our squad." Kuro said "I'm so happy, I'm sure you two will get along."

"Eheheheh…sure…" Kiyo sweatdropped.

"Dinner is served." Daisuke said as the food was brought in by other maids and butlers.

"Oh this looks great as usual~!" Misaki chimed.

"Ah~ time to eat~." Kiyo began to eat.

"Alright I'm digging in!" Kuro says as he cuts into his steak

Kaido didn't say anything as he began eating, as he was too hungry to talk.

After they were finished eating they began discussing their training schedule for the next few days or possibly weeks. "We should probably start training tomorrow-ttebanya." Kiyo suggested.

"Alright, I hope I don't end up blowing a hole in the wall." Kuro laughed.

"Well luckily I can just run away but Kiyo may be screwed." Kaido laughed.

Kiyo kicked him under the table again. "Might wanna train in a field or something to prevent that from happening. Misaki-chan, can we train in the meadow over by the lake?" her friend nodded after thinking for a moment.

"I'm going to try a new jutsu there with this." Kuro took out his invention, what looked like a thicker version of his metal card blade.

"Oh really? That's cool." Kiyo smiled. "I wanna try practicing moves with my new scythe-spear thing." She smirked to herself. '_On Kaido would be nice.'_

_Why do I sense something bad is gonna happen to me?_ Kaido whined in his head.


	14. Let's Train

**KO 14: Let's Train**

As wind blows dramatically through the Reizei's private training field, Kiyo and Kaido get ready to spar. "Ready?" Misaki asks them. They both nod. "Fight!"

Kiyo ran at him, throwing a punch when she got close enough. Kaido dodged with ease, "Ya know I can't you seriously when you're wearing that outfit." He laughed.

"You jerk!" She swung again. And again he dodged. He tripped her and she fell on her butt. "Owww!" she whined. Kaido simply laughed at her. She smirked and did a windmill kick making him fall to the ground as well.

"Alright let's see if I can get this right." Kuro said as he threw his new card into the tree. "Alright it sticks into surfaces fine." he says as the card flips open revealing the four points where the stings attach. "Alright now for the other one." he throws his other one and after it opens he starts focusing his chakra connecting three of the points from both of the cards together. "Now I just need to check the strength of the strings." Kuro pulled back on the strings but instead of holding firm like usually the string snapped and whipped back slicing into his arm causing him something he usually doesn't feel- intense pain. "AH WHAT THE FUCK?" With that lapse in concentration the strings disappear and he falls over on his back, grasping his bleeding arm in pain.

"Jerk! Hold still so I can cut you!" Kiyo swung her scythe at Kaido.

"Hey what happened to Kuro?" Kaido pointed to where he lay.

"Huh?" Kiyo turned her head and then Kaido tripped her again.

"Kurinto-nii-san!" Misaki ran over to him as did his teammates. "What happened?"

Kuro laid there, out cold in a pool of his own blood. As Kiyo got closer she caught scent of the blood and covered her nose. But it was too late for her. Her heart started to throb and her fangs grew, she thirst for blood. Her face became flushed as she dropped to her knees and brought Kuro's neck up to her mouth, and then she noticed the laceration on his arm. She licked blood off his arm and closed the wound with her power. Unfortunately for him she came too late as the wound still left a scar. Kiyo craved for more blood and bit into his neck.

Kuro wakes up in this bed in the mansion he felt one pain in his arm and two in his neck, then he notice Kiyo sitting in the corner of the room asleep. _Well that explains the two in my neck, but what about...oh yea I couldn't handle the mule points for my chakra strings cause of my shitty chakra control_. He looked at his arm and noticed the deep gash was healed but still leaving a scar. _I guess it took a bit for Kiyo to notice my injury and I must have passed out from blood loss_…Noticing the time being 3:00 am the next day, he got up from bed scratched the top of Kiyo's head whispering. "Thanks though that was a serious gash." He walked out the door heading to the blacksmith's forge in the mansion.

Hours later Kiyo wakes up and sees Kuro isn't in the bed. She got up and searched for him. She found him sharpening his swords in the blacksmith's forge. "Oh…Kurinto….a-are you ok?"

"Ya...I'm fine my arms just a bit sore." Kuro said not looking away from his swords as he begins polishing them.

"Oh that's good…" Kiyo blushed a bit, remembering she licked his arm clean the day before. "Uhm anyway…" she began to twiddle her thumbs from embarrassment and blushed even more. "Y-yesterday…I-I kinda…" she looked at the ground and then back Kuro, "b-bit you…I-I'm really sorry!" she bowed. "I'll try to not do it again!"

"It's fine, you healed me anyways." Kuro turned around and smiled. "Since you are a vampire it is important for you to get blood so I don't mind."

"Yeah but it's embarrassing for me since I know you and I have to be all intimate like that and it's just…nya!" Kiyo blushed more from embarrassment. "It's just weird ok! An-and…your blood made me sick to my stomach anyway…I-I don't know why…That kind of usually only happens if it's not our preference." She thought out loud.

"Well its kinda fair cause it kinda hurt getting bit by your fangs ya know."

Kiyo gave a concerned look. She may've been a novice at the whole 'feeding' thing…"You're not…supposed to feel it…We have a certain power that prevents humans from being hurt in the process. Oh wait maybe it's-!" Kiyo stopped herself from thinking out loud anymore.

"Well no less, if you really need blood I don't mind, especially if we are on a mission." Kuro said as he slid his swords into his straps. "Cause I wouldn't want you to have to fight with your anemia affecting you." Kuro said.

Kiyo blushed yet again. "Th-thank you…" she smiled.

"No problem, now…" Kuro's stomach growled. "Is there breakfast cause I was knocked out during dinner…"

Kiyo's stomach growled as well. "At least you didn't puke yours up…There should be something ready by now-ttebanya." She went back to the main building, motioning for Kuro to follow. As soon as she saw a maid she asked her about breakfast. "Oh they're waiting for us?"

"Yes milady." She responded. "If you'll follow me I'll show you to the dining hall." The maid took them there and they sat.

Kiyo noticed the purple-hair girl was now awake and had joined them at the table. "IT'S YOU!" the girl pointed at Kiyo, surprised by her presence.

"Yea?" Kiyo raised an eyebrow.

"You bit me! Am I gonna die?" she held her neck.

"You'd be dead by now if you were…And no you're not gonna turn into one either…"

"Aw man…" she whined.

"To me that would be a good thing." Kuro laugh.

"You saying there should be less of us than there already are?" Kiyo questioned him.

"Aren't there, like, only eight other families besides yours?" Misaki asked.

"Well, including you there are nine."

"Uh yea one half of a person doesn't really count." Misaki scratched her cheek and laughed.

"I meant personally I wouldn't want to be a vampire." Kuro chuckled. "Could you imagine me being a vampire?" Kuro asked.

"Ugh…we don't need any earthquakes every goddamn time you punch something…"

"Very true. I already have to train away from building or else I may blow them up." Kuro laughed.

"Why would that happen?" Both the girl and Misaki asked.

"Umm…well Kiyo should I just go to the lake and show them? I wouldn't want to mess up the training field." Kuro asked.

"Nah…This guy's just ridiculously strong…for a human anyway." Kiyo explained.

"Maybe you and Kuro should compare strength even though my money is on Kuro." Kaido stuck his tongue out.

Kiyo grabbed Kaido by his shirt, fed up with him insulting and teasing her. "How about we compare our strength on your face!" she swung her fist at him.

Kuro held her punch before it could connect with Kaido's face. "How about we just see how my Tempest Blast stands against your attack of choice." Kuro said.

"Hmph." She let Kaido go. "Do you really think you can beat an adult vampire? Heh, I admit you're strong-but you're still _human_." She mocked Kuro.

"I wouldn't count me out so far Kiyo. 'Those who are blinded by arrogance will be crushed from above by those who seemed below them.'" Kiyo and Kaido looked at Kuro with confusion. "It was a quote my father told me when I was little."

"Still…humans are naturally weaker than demons in general." The violet-haired girl asked.

"'In general' is the key word, Kiyo." Kuro said as he started walking off before turning to the purple haired girl. "Sorry this may be late but your name is?"

"Oh yea it's Shiyan." She said.

"Oh~ your name is so pretty~! Like you~!" Misaki exclaimed hyperly.

"It makes sense, considering that's what her name means…" Kiyo added.

"Whatever her name means, nothing changes the fact she is really advanced in Genjutsu considering she is our age." Kuro said.

"Can get just get to the power comparison?" Kaido asked impatiently.

"Wait…I got my money on…Kiyo was it? Since she's the vamp…" Shiyan stated. "Hey wait…didn't you have a brother?" she asked the red-head.

Kiyo's face went dark. "NO. I. DO. NOT!"

"Well let's go." Kuro said. The group of five walked the ten minute trip to the Reizei's private lake to see who was stranger between to two older genin.

"Alright, what we'll do is…hm…punch the sand and whomever's punch makes the sand go further wins." Kiyo declares the rule.

"Ladies first." He motioned for her to go.

"Ha, fine-ttebanya." She sighed. She balled up her fist and punched the sand as hard as she could. The sand flew halfway on the beach of the 170-ft lake. "Hmph. Beat that." She smirked.

"Hmm, I can't beat that but…" Kuro punched the ground and it traveled the same distance as Kiyo's punch had sent it. "Match it." Kuro said.

"I don't see how _that_ could destroy my house…" Misaki pointed out.

"I matched strength with a _human_…" Kiyo curled up into a ball of depression.

"Kuro, why don't you show them how your training could damage the house." Kaido suggested.

"I suppose I should." Kuro said facing the other side of the beach he made the Tiger hand sign then the Tempest as his chakra collected, "Tempest Blast." Kuro smashed the ground and the sand launched so far it wound up deep in the forest.

"Dammit!" Kiyo whined and became a black hole of emo.

"And now…" Kuro bit his finger, drawing blood and summoned his swords. He planted them into the ground and formed a lone Tempest hand sign, "Tempest Blades!" He grabbed his sword as the chakra poured into the sword as it neatly wrapped the element in the same order as before with this new form. The only difference being him wielding two swords covered in chakra and then he smashed the ground with such a tremendous force the servants at the house thought it to be an earthquake. When the dust cleared all the sand had left the beach as the sand that was in the air settled Kuro was standing there with his sword held to his sides, but only in his boxers with his stature and muscle mass was increase from his blue marks shining brightly as the runic symbols on his chest seemed more than abstracted marking but that didn't change the fact...he had no pants.

All three girls blushed madly as they stared at the shirt-less, pants-less Kuro. After a minute Kiyo snapped out of it. "Put some clothes on!" she kicked him into the forest towards the house.


	15. Hot Springs

**KO 15: Hot Springs**

Three days later as the sun is about to set Kiyo, Kuro, Kaido, and Shiyan walk the path from the Reizei mansion to Kumo. "I'm pretty sure Raikage-sama will forgive your actions once he finds out how powerful your Genjutsu is…" Kiyo reassured Shiyan about joining the Kumo ninja ranks. "Besides… you won't be working under that hag anymore."

"But you don't understand Kiyo! She's not just a ninja she's a vampire hunter!" Shiyan exclaimed. "She won't come just after you or your family…She'll go after your friends and since I'm on your side now…me and any friends I make when she does…"

"We'll be ready for her! Right guys?" Kiyo turned to the boys.

"Ya." they both said.

"But first can I get some clothes? I'm still in this bath robe…" Kuro complained.

"Uhm lemme see if there's a town near where we are…" Kiyo pulled out a map she had in her pack and unfolded it. Shiyan held the other end while looking at it as well.

"Oh! Hey Katsu Town is on the other side of that hill!" Shiyan exclaimed.

"Isn't Katsu Town the capitol of this country?" Kiyo asked.

"Yeah, but it's also where Katsucon is!" Shiyan exclaimed again.

"The anime convention? Why aren't there now?" Kiyo got excited. "IKUTTEBANYA!" Kiyo shouted her version of charge and the two girls sped off, leaving Kaido and Kuro in the dust.

Kuro sighs. "I guess if we fight, I'll be fighting in boxers."

"Sucks to be you." Kaido said while he munched on a random cookie.

When the four finally got to the convention, Kiyo and Shiyan stood there in silence. Eyes sparkling with amazement. "Kya~ it's my dream to go to one of these things~!" Kiyo giggled.

"Mine too!" A Death the Kidd cosplayer walked past. The kunoichi squealed like the fangirls they were.

"Why are we coming through this area?" Kuro said "Have you forgotten I'm in a damn bathrobe."

"Shut it! Don't you know they sell clothes here?" Kiyo did not want him to spoil this moment for her. She handed him some cash. "Now go by yourself some clothes!"

"Fine." Kuro walked into the convention. He sees see an outfit marked as his size, buys it, changes into it, and walks out to rejoin his friends. The clothing was tight pure white dress shirt with only 3 middle buttons. An ornate vine design started on the back and ended at his mid section. It had equally white pants, a double black belt and a matching black chocker. Though all Kuro cared about was that he finally had real clothes on.

Kiyo had bought and changed into a cosplay of Amu Hinamori from Shugo Chara. "Punk style for the win!" she pumped her fist into the air.

"You have to act cool if you want to pull off that cosplay." Shiyan joked as Kiyo glared at her.

"Alright guys I'm back." Kuro said as he rejoined his friends.

Kaido just continued noming on his cookie. Not having a care in the world…or at least less than what he usually does.

"Oh…I didn't even notice you left." Kiyo flipped her hair, getting into character.

"Ha, welcome back." Shiyan patted him on the shoulder.

"God are you guys really cosplaying on a mission?" Kuro facepalmed.

"I'm not, she is." Shiyan pointed to the redhead. She stuck her tongue out at the both of them.

"Whatever, it's getting dark so I'll go rent a room." Kuro walked off. Kuro and Kaido head off to get the hotel room. They rent a large hotel room that would be big enough to hold all four of them. As soon as they get the keys Kaido takes one and goes to sleep while Kuro waits in the lobby for Kiyo and Shiyan. As he waits girls come over to talk to him and mingles with them being, extremely bored otherwise.

Suddenly, a murderous aura is sensed within the lobby. "Kuro…" Kiyo growled. The girls, even though they're citizens, sense her aura and scatter. Kiyo stomped over to Kuro and dragged him upstairs to the room. "Why are you flirting with other girls if you have a girlfriend?"

"I'm Flirting? I don't see how…" Kuro yawned.

"You're letting those girls flirt with you! And I know you know they are!"

"Meh I don't get the big deal really…I was bored and didn't feel like doing anything about it. Important thing is, I wasn't doing anything." Kuro said

"Ha…You're guy so of course you wouldn't get…" Kiyo sighed, knowing it would be more than a pain in the ass to explain to him why what he did was wrong. "I'm goin' to the hot spring!" she grabbed a robe that came with the room and stomped out of it. Shiyan followed her.

Kaido woke up for a moment. "I think she's jealous." He teased and went back to sleep.

_I guess I'll use the guys hot springs…let me get Lazy ass._ Kuro got changed into a robe. After waking up Kaido by pulling the sheet out from under him they headed for the hot spring. Kuro sat in the hot spring, in silence as they relaxed.

He heard two people walking into the girls' side as the wooden fence separating the genders was not much of a sound buffer. "You sure you don't have a crush on him?" what sounds like Shiyan asked.

"I'm sure." What sounds like Kiyo said defiantly.

"Then why'd you get so at him?"

"Just knowing the fact that he has a girlfriend and he's letting those other girls flirt with him…it's almost like cheating." She stepped into the spring. "You know?"

"I guess but…it's not like it affects you, right? That's between him and the girl."

"True but…I guess I just don't like seeing other girls get hurt like that. Or the thought of it at least…"

"Say what you will but I think you like guy…"

"Even if I did like him like that I couldn't be with him…for multiple reasons."

"Tell me~!" Shiyan inquired.

"Well…this only hypothetical and if we were single and even liked each other that way…you got that?"

"Yeah, yeah just tell me~!"

"Well…the fact I'm a vamp…I can't really date humans y'know? My family hates me enough as it is being a mutt and all…"

"Wait you aren't a pure breed?"

"If you mean 'not a complete vamp'…no I'm not…I'm not even half human either…Heh…to other demons I'm like a jinjuuriki, at least the way people view them anyway…It's the same with Misaki, she's half-an-half too, but human…" Kiyo leaned her head back on a rock to relax.

"So you can't date at all?" Shiyan hugged her. "I feel for ya."

"Well I'd havta be datin' a guy from another village if I wanted to…"Kiyo blushed at the intimate contact between her and the girl.

"So what are you anyway? You're other half…" Kiyo looked around to make sure no one was around. Then she whispered into her ear. Shiyan busted out laughing. "Y-You don't look like one at all!" she held her stomach, already starting to hurt from laughing so hard.

"I-I KNOW THAT!" Kiyo suddenly stood up, making the water shoot up about 10 feet in the air with her anger. "It's just really embarrassing ok?" she pouted. The two soon got out and walked back to the hotel room.

"Those two have odd conversations, maybe I should tell her I write to my girlfriend and the funny things girls say when they try to flirt with me." Kuro said.

"Let me guess she find it funny or something?" Kaido guessed.

"Ya and she trusts me just like I trust her. Neither of us would ever dream of cheating on one another."

"Well bed time." Kaido said and he rushed off to the room. When he got there, Kiyo tackled him to the floor, wearing the hotel robe. "What the heck man?" Kiyo's eyes had changed color, from their usual green to a glowing gold. She didn't say anything as she leaned down slowly and closed her eyes. She bit him.

"Jeez, I guess newbs really can't go for more than few days without blood." Shiyan noted.

"Wow vampires really do suck." Kaido said "Enjoy the horrible flavor you will have in your mouth by the way." Kuro walked in and just passed out on the bed.

Kiyo sat up and resisted the urge to throw up, again, "W-what are you? I can tell by your blood you're only half human…" she covered her mouth. _God…his blood is so bitter…_

"Well bitter blood is the sign of death you know." Kaido said with a wicked smile.

"Ugh…you mean…you're a Shinigami? You're the death god's son?"

"Bingo! Guess you aren't always a Dobe." Kaido said sticking his tongue out.

"I'm never a Dobe!" Kiyo felt his blood coming up her throat. "Ugh!" she tried to force it back down again, but her efforts were futile as Kaido's own blood found its way onto his face, chest, and the floor.

"What the heck man? I just got out of the hot springs." Kaido cried.

"Your blood is disgusting!" she yelled at him.

"Get off of me!" Kaido yelled, angry about being a barf bag.

Kiyo blushed and jumped off him. "Great now I'm hungry again!" she whined. At that moment Kuro stirred in his sleep making a good amount of noise. "At least Kuro's was sweet tasting before I threw that up…" Kiyo thought about what she said for a second. "Kay that did _not_ sound right…"

"Is all human blood like his or is his different?" Kaido asked wiping himself clean with a towel.

"I can't believe you're actually interested…" Kiyo glanced at Shiyan. "Blood tastes different for every person. I mean it's not like vampires can just bite anyone…We have preferences too-ttebanya…"

"Like people with food?" Shiyan asked.

Kiyo nodded. "Yeah, except well call it our Blood Affinity. It's a personality trait or emotion that attracts us to a certain type of person. When we bite that person we 'suck' it out of them. For example, if a vamp's affinity was stress, they suck it out and they're not stressed anymore." She explained.

"Oh cool it's a win-win!" Shiyan's eyes sparkled with delight.

"Not completely though…"

"For instance, what if they're affinity was courage? If you drank their blood they would become a coward." Kuro said as he woke up.

"Please don't do that anymore….it's creepy." Kiyo deadpanned. "And yea you're right, though I was gonna use love as the example but oh well…" she shrugged.

"Well good thing you don't seem to have a positive affinity...buts it odd I'm the only full human on this squad but yet I'm the strongest at the moment." Kuro laughed.

Kiyo's face went dark again. "YOU JERK!" she proceeded to jab Kuro in his sides, causing him much pain and her much enjoyment.


	16. Distraction Jutsu

**KO 16: Distraction Jutsu**

The next morning Kuro was the first to wake up. "It's time for me to write to Rosu-chan." Kuro grabbed a pen and paper walking out to the balcony to write a letter to his girlfriend with a smile.

Soon after, Shiyan and Kaido woke up. A few hours later Kiyo was still snuggled tightly in her covers, dreaming. Shiyan poked her, "C'mon Kiyo-chan wake up…" The four agreed to leave before noon… the time was 11:30 am.

"She's a vampire. It's natural she would hate the morning sun." Kaido said sticking his tongue out.

"But we need to leave~." Shiyan whined and proceeds to shake Kiyo awake. Kiyo suddenly sat up, grabbed Shiyan be her shirt and threw her across the room, falling back onto her futon to sleep some more.

Kuro finished his letter detailing everything that been going on with his team and of course how much he loves her and put it in an envelope addressed to Rosu's house. He jump to the next roof top and headed to post office. "They won't miss me for a few minute." Kuro said.

"Hey guys, where is Kuro? I can't find him." Kaido asked.

"I don't know!" Shiyan replied from her landing spot across the room. She got up and dusted herself off. "So how are we gonna wake up little miss nocturnal without getting killed?"

"Hmm I have an idea." Kaido says. He walks up to her and says in her ear. "Kuro is out by the pool flirting with a bunch of girls. You should stop him Kiyo." Kaido said backing up as soon as he said it.

Kiyo stirred in her sleep but didn't wake up, "Kuro-chan~." She smiled and hugged her pillow tighter.

"Uhhh yea she definitely likes him whether she'll admit it or not." Shiyan stated. "But hey watch this…" Shiyan leaned down in Kiyo's ear. "Soul Eater is shirtless~."

Kiyo shot up, "What? WHERE-TTEBAYO?"

Kaido facepalms. "What a fangirl…Kiyo, Kuro is missing."

"Oh ok…" she yawned and put her glasses on. "As long as he's back before we leave." She lay down again.

"Stay awake!" Shiyan hit her with a pillow.

"But it's early!" Kiyo whined.

"It's quarter of 12!"

"Early!"

Meanwhile Kuro drops off the letter, pays for the fastest delivery, they offer and send a blacksmith order form for Rosu to send back a custom order present. "Time to head back to the hotel room."

"God I knew you were a _Dobe,_ but now you're lazy too?" Kaido said jokingly.

"I'm no _Dobe_! Though I'd be lying saying I wasn't lazy…I just don't like mornings…" Kiyo explained.

"Gee I wonder why~?" Shiyan asked rhetorically. Kiyo shot her a death glare.

"Kiyo, we gotta find Kuro. We have no idea where he is…" Kaido said.

Kiyo sniffed the air for a few seconds, "He's not far from here. He'll be back shortly."

"So vamps do have a sensitive nose!" Shiyan exclaimed.

"How can you be sure he didn't just tear his clothing?" Kaido asked.

"His blood," Kiyo stated. "I can track people by the scent of their blood-ttebanya. Except in the hot springs since there's so much sulfur…"

"Creeper!" Shiyan joked.

"Well we should still lo…" Kaido was cut off by Kuro jumping into the room through a window.

"Yo." Kuro said saluting them.

"Where were you?" Shiyan asked.

"Helping an old lady cross the street."

"Lies!" Kiyo and Kaido called him out.

"Fine, fine, the truth is I was sending a letter to Rosu-chan." Kuro said happily. Kiyo and Kaido looked at him like he had five heads. "What, something wrong?"

"Y-you…" Kaido stuttered.

"You said 'chan'!" Kiyo freaked out. "You never use honorifics!"

"I only use them for certain people, for instance, Rosu-chan is my girlfriend." Kuro chuckled.

"Aren't we your best friends?" Kiyo pouted.

"Yes, but it would be odd for me to use honorifics for anyone but Rosu-chan or Raikage-sama." Kuro said.

"Hmph! Pack your stuff, we're leaving! I'll go check us out." Kiyo pouted more and walked out the room in a huff.

"Dude, I think you made her mad." Shiyan stated once Kiyo was gone. Kaido simply laughed at this.

"What did I do?" Kuro asked, confused.

'_He could at least call us 'san'…' _Kiyo thought as her friends rejoined her in front of the hotel. "Alright guys. Old Man Kage's gonna be mad at us if we don't return by this evening."

"Alight let's head out." Kuro said.

"Um...who has the map?" Kaido asked.

Kiyo started checking her pockets, "Ah-uhm…about that…" she scratched her cheek sheepishly. "I was supposed to be carrying right?"

"Oh no…" Shiyan facepalmed, "don't tell me you forgot it!"

"No…just misplaced it somewhere unknown." Kiyo looked in her pack again to make sure. "It's not there…Man that was a really nice map too…damnit…" she whined.

"Wow really you lost the map." Kaido and Kuro said in deadpan unison.

"Shut up!" Kiyo blushed. "I bet you guys would've lost it too!"

"Nope. I would have had multiple copies made, given them to my teammates and had three copies myself because redundancy is the best policy." Kuro said.

"I agree with Kuro. Redundancy is the best way to keep these things from happening." Kaido agreed.

"Look I did have a second one! That lady took it!" Kiyo explained. "She took the second map instead of the second letter!"

"You mean Eigo-sama?" Shiyan asked.

"Yea sure! That lady." Kiyo nodded.

"Still, why weren't we given copies of the map?" Kuro asked.

"Because I don't need your help reading a map." Kiyo pouted. "I can take care of that myself. Besides, it's not my fault that lady took the map instead of the letter."

"Never mind this, let's just go try to find a new map in town." Kuro suggested.

On their way to the next town to find a map Shiyan and Kiyo start arguing about who would get Soul, if he were in their world…

"I'm a vampire he would think I'm cooler!"

"What if he doesn't like vamps?"

"I'll use my Distraction Jutsu!"

"Wait…what?"

Kuro and Kaido walks up ahead to fully ignore the fangirl conversation coming from behind them. "So you really add a bit of your blood to every weapon you forge, man?" Kaido asked.

"Ya it part of the ingredient for the chakra metal." Kuro explained.

"That sounds odd even for an advanced Kekkei Genkai." Kaido said. _Blood affecting metal…that sounds more like a divine trait than a Kekkei Genkai._ Kaido thought, he took a quick look to make sure the girls behind him weren't killing one another over a fangirl argument.

"Distraction Jutsu!" A puff of smoke surrounded Kiyo. The smoke disappeared and a very attractive, succubus-like woman appeared. "This is the distraction jutsu." She winked.

"How…original…" Shiyan sweatdropped. Kaido foamed at the mouth and fell to the ground, hitting his head.

Seeing this in the corner of his eyes, Kuro looked to what was going on behind him. Kuro, seeing Kiyo like that, did what was necessary. "Hey Kiyo, I don't think you should do that in the middle of town, it could cause a scene." Kuro said as he pulled out a pinch of smelling salts and woke Kaido up. Getting him to move again.

Kiyo released the jutsu. "If you gave me a minute, I would've released it on my own. And besides… it's not like anyone else is around."

"So do we know how far we are from the next town?" Kuro asked.

"How the strong the scent of food is." Kiyo stated plainly. "Where there's a town, there's food. The stronger, the closer we are. And there's bound to be some kind of book store with maps."

"Alright but you have to wake the lazy ass." Kuro laughed as he started walking again.

"Ugh fine…Can I drown him first?"

"No we need him alive." Kuro said chuckling.

"Fine…" Kiyo stared at the dark skinned boy for a moment trying to think of non-violent ways to wake him up. "I'm coming up with a blank."

"Let me try something…" Shiyan grabbed Kaido and took a deep breath. She leans in and just as there are about to touch…

"Something's coming!" Kiyo warns them and jump out of the way of attacking vines, but it was too late for the younger ninja.

"Pity I didn't catch you like the first time." Eigo stepped out of the shadows.

"Kuro hurry up and-!"Kiyo saw her friends caught in Eigo's Vine Entanglement Jutsu. Only this time there were beautiful blue and green flowers growing along the vines.

"This shit again." Kuro deadpanned, then broke the vines binding him, and laid down on the ground, falling asleep.

"You're friends are useless now, Kusuri. The flower emits an odor that makes them high." Eigo smirked.

"What the hell do you want with me lady?" Kiyo yelled at her.

"The destruction of your clan."


	17. Awaken

**KO 17: Awaken**

**A/N: Hey its Kuro again sorry for the errors that passed by us in our recent updates and the late update this week Kiyo got in trouble haha, so not only will I be uploading instead but I give you all, our loyal fans a double update ^^ so please enjoy, review, and tell your friends to check us out. Well Kuro out xP**

**A/N 2: Yola~ tis kiyo~ Kuro wrote half of this chapter and left out some things like...punctuation so I'm just her to fix nstuff...= 3= stupid kuro...**

"What the hell do you want with me lady?" Kiyo yelled at Eigo.

"The destruction of your clan…and your godforsaken race." She vowed.

"Why? I didn't do anything to you!"

"You're a naïve child aren't you?" Eigo frowned. "You don't know what your own family has done? How many lives they've ruined?"

"How could they ruin anyone's lives? We're in medicine! We help people!"

"And because of that, when I was your age, my family went out of business! My parents died from the stress and I vowed to do whatever it takes to get revenge on Kusuri family. Even if it means killing a child such as yourself." Eigo pronounced. She summoned vines that grabbed Kiyo and brought her close, before the young vampire could summon her scythe. Eigo took out a kunai and stabbed the redhead in the stomach. "Goodnight vampire scum." Her vines took Kiyo and threw her into a lake within eyeshot.

Kiyo sank deeper and deeper, not having any energy because she hadn't actually had any blood since she bit Shiyan. And due to the strong 'purification' properties of water, Kiyo, like all vampires are weak against it. Even if some of them can control the element. _Is this the end…?_ She thought. _Will I die pathetically like this? I became a ninja to prove my worth! _She began to cry. Her tears and blood mixing with the water, floating up as she sank down and finally landed on the bottom of the lake. _I can't die like this! AUGH I can't move!_ She had flashbacks of moments she had with her friends since becoming a genin. Her cooking for Kuro when he was sick, watching Kaido trying to use her ankle weights. The boys helping her when she was sick herself. And even her and Shiyan having otaku moments even though they were originally enemies.

"Now to deal with the lot of you." Eigo said as she took out a kunai to take care of the three ninja. She pointed it to Shiyan's neck, as she was about to cut it, a bloodstained kunai knocked the other one out of her hand. "Impossible!" Eigo turned to where the kunai came from. Kiyo was standing in the middle of a maelstrom. Her irises were yellow and the sclera's turned black. She shot across the water straight for Eigo. "Vine style: Entanglement Jutsu!" Vines wrapped themselves around the red head, trapping her. She smirked and bit the vines, sucking the chakra out of them that controlled the jutsu. Once the vines were loose her nails grew like talons and she sliced through them like butter. "Vampires…shouldn't be able to do things like that…"

"I'm only half!" Kiyo laughed manically, her grew like talons. "And you'll be in half too!" she slashed at her. Eigo dodged narrowly as a large tree was cut down in its prime.

_She cut down that tree…with just her nails?_ Eigo claps her hands togther then slams them on the ground. "Earth style: Stone Pillar jutsu!"

A stone pillar came out of the ground and hit Kiyo, sending her into the air. She concentrated chakra to her feet to safely land on the tree. Kiyo then used the momentum from her landing to shoot rapidly towards Eigo. When the blur that was Kiyo stopped the immediate area was covered in a cloud of dust from the crater she made. She coughed as the dust cleared. Her left eye turned red, bat wings and black tail with an arrow on the end sprouted out. She sprang at Eigo and pinned her down. "If you kill me then you're not better than that wretched family of yours." Eigo squeaked out.

Kiyo smirked as the arrow on her tail opened and attached itself to Eigo's forehead. Both the kunoichi's eyes went blank as they met in a mindscape.

"Where…where am I?" Eigo looked around. Why am I a kid?"

"We're in your subconscious." Said a young Kiyo.

"What!"

"Inside you're still just a little girl…" Kiyo said sympathetically.

"No I'm not!"

"It's understandable that you would be this way…Your childhood and family was ruined by mine…"

"You have no idea how hard my life has been since then." Eigo growled.

"I can imagine…You aren't the only one affected by them." Kiyo stated. "But you don't need to hold a grudge anymore. I can give you any amount of money you need and all can be forgiven."

"No!" Eigo screamed. "This is why I hate you rich bastards! You think if you pay me money it'll shut up! Well I won't no amount of money can quench my thirst for revenge" Kiyo felt a heartbeat resonate throughout her body.

"I see…I didn't want it to come to this…" Kiyo stated feeling the heartbeat again. She pulled Eigo close as she extended her fangs.

"N-No! D-don't bite me!" Eigo protested. "I'm gonna die!"

Kiyo quickly bit her, temporarily immobilizing the older kunoichi in both the mindscape and outer world. Images of Eigo's memories playing appeared. The ones that made her feel misery blurred. Kiyo lets go of her and draws back her tail, leaving the mindscape.

Hours passed by while Kiyo was in the mindscape. "Kiyo you're ok!" Shiyan hugged her. "I was so worried about you! The effects of the flowers wore off a couple hours ago."

"Ya, those vines really made me feel like I was in a room surrounded by copies of You and Shiyan talking about who would get guys from manga..Bleh." Kuro said with a shutter.

Kiyo didn't respond she just looked at the unconscious kunoichi. _Those memories that pain did my family's success really cause that amount of hatred. _

Kuro saw the forlorn look on his friend's face. He put his hand on her shoulder, "Hey Kiyo, ryo for your thoughts?"

"She said that my family caused her to become the way she is, that my family ran hers out of business…"

"And let me guess you got the line, 'Nothing can quench my thirst for revenge'." Kuro sighed.

"Wait how the hell did you know?" Kiyo asked.

"Because she is a classic example of an avenger someone who has been wronged. Someone who instead of living a fulfilling life, they throw it away to get revenge. A truly pathetic way to live if you ask me."

"So what are you classified as, since you go against the path of an avenger?" Kiyo asked.

"I'm a survivor. After something wrongs me I do not dwell on it, I pay my respects to those who fell and I don't look a gift horse in the mouth and wonder why was I saved, I live my life so that my family can enjoy what they see from the afterlife." Kuro stated.

Sensing it be best not to continue on, Kiyo went to change the subject. "Hey Kuro-kun what do we do now anyways?"

"Well Kaido went to go get a map and got back a few minutes ago."

"Hey Kiyo, nice job." Kaido said with a laugh.

"Oh so I get praise from the grand lazy-ass." Kiyo rolled her eyes, but a second later started laughing at her joke. _'Hey wait why do I feel fine now? I was starving of blood..._

"Hey Kiyo, I don't mind but next time you need blood ya should make sure I'm conscious." Kuro said point to two unhealed bite marks on his neck. "_The longer a vampire goes without blood the weaker they get both in mind and body._" Kuro said with his eyes closed, then he opened them, "At least that's what my book says." he said with a light grin on his face.

"C-come here." Kiyo was slightly stunned that not only has he been reading about mythology and legends, but also memorizing the information from his books.

After having his the bite marks healed by Kiyo, Kuro turned to Kaido. "Alright you have the map and the copies." Kaido's face lit up with a stupid grin when he pulled out two copies per person. "Alright redundancy!" Kuro copied Kaido's grin and in unison, "Always the best policy." They promptly broke out in a fit of laughter.

Kiyo knowing why they are acting like this yelled, "HEY! What's so funny?"

Kaido and Kuro both turned to the angry red head repeated "Redundancy wins!" and ran off towards Kumo.

"YOU FUCKING JERKS!" Kiyo ran off after her to friends.

"No matter what happens Kiyo, Kuro, and Kaido always seem to end up laughing or yelling...Hey wait..." Shiyan stared off into space and after a lightbulb goes off in her head, "Or should I say the K.O. Trio always end up laughing and yelling. That's awesome I need to write it down!" she giggled and realized she was speaking to herself. "Hey wait up you guys!"


	18. Serious Training

**KO 18: Serious Training**

"It's you!" Kiyo ran up and hugged an attractive tall man with jet black hair, red eyes, and tan skin. He wore a black leather trench coat and matching leather pants. Many chains and spikes completed the man's gothic look. "I can't believe you're really here in the village!" Kiyo smiled at him.

He patted her on the head, "Ah...Kiyo-chan good to see you're doing well." He noticed her long red locks weren't in their usual ponytail. "You've let your hair down, I like it."

"A-actually, it happened on this mission we just got back from. Speaking of I want you to meet my teammates, Kuro and Kaido," Kiyo pointed to the boys, "and my friend Shiyan."

"Shiyan, I see how you got your name…" He smiled and cupped the girl's chin.

"N-nice to meet ya…" Shiyan blushed.

"You wanna introduce this guy to us Kiyo?" Kuro asked.

"Oh right uhm…guys…This is my dad…Tamaki Takahashi…"

"He's your dad?" Shiyan exclaimed. "He's so young."

"Just a perk of being an incubus, little lady." He winks at her.

"Daddy~!" Kiyo whined. "You can't go around announcing the fact!"

"I can erase their memory."

"Ya well…you're just lucky they already knew that you were ok?"

"I really need to go work at my furnace and change my clothes. These need to be washed; I'll keep them since I can wear them as formal wear." Kuro said.

"Oh cya Kuro-kun." She waved at him.

"I'll go take the mission report to Raikage-sama." Kaido grabbed Shiyan's hand and walked off with her.

"I'll talk to ya later Kiyo-nee!" Shiyan waved.

"Bye!" she waved back.

"So you're that close to them, huh?" Takashi questioned his daughter.

"Yea they're actually really good friends."

"There's something off about that Kuro guy…"

"Heh, there's more than just something…I tried to bite him for his blood and it's almost like his blood rejected me."

"That's something you need to talk to your mother about, _Zeribinzu._"

Kuro arrives at his estate, walking up to his room and changed out of his new white formal clothes. Then changes into his ninja shorts and walked downstairs to his blacksmithing furnace and began to sharpen his swords. Smithing new throwing blades as he remembered what happened during his time with the squad so far. _It's odd we only really fought one other ninja and she was barley Chuunin level yet we had so much trouble with her, we fought bandits but most academy students could do that._

He finishes sharpening his blades and places them gingerly to the side as he sat down on a wooden chair and drank out of a water bottle. _But, we learned a great amount on our own and Kira promised that if we completed this solo mission she would teach us seriously. The fact that both my teammates aren't really human doesn't bother me but their slight differences to each other make me think me being fully human seems kinda off; but without anything to base this feeling off of I'll just have to ignore it for now._ Kuro finished his water and walks to his room to change to his normal clothing. _'I guess I'll head to the training ground and wait for Kira and the others._ With that thought he left his estate and went to Team 8's training ground.

When he arrived the rest of his team was waiting, along with Shiyan and Tamaki-Kiyo's father, who were spectators. "I was wondering when you were gonna show up-ttebanya." Kiyo greeted him.

"Now that we're all here, we can finally get serious about training." Kira stated.

"Good, I bet we'll learn a lot since the prerequisites were so high for your teachings." Kuro said.

"More like you're finally doing your job instead of just torturing me." Kaido said.

"Wow….you must be a horrible sensei…" Shiyan commented.

"Ki-chan! I entrust my daughter's education to you and she hasn't learned anything?"

"Dammit shut up you shit-faced babies!" Kira yelled. "I wanted to make sure you guys could handle yourselves without me before I actually taught you anything. But that doesn't mean you aren't stronger than when you graduated just a month ago."

"Ya, because your punishment was me running around the village, or trying to, with Kiyo weights." Kaido said.

"Oh, so you want to use Kuro's weights then?" Kira got an evil shimmer in her eyes.

"Oh god no, Kuro's weights would send me through the floor!" Kaido cried.

"Why are a human's training weights worse?" Tamaki asked his daughter.

Kiyo shyly looked at the ground and drew on it with her foot before answering with a quiet voice. "H-he's stronger…"

"Wimp." Kuro laughed at his dark friend. "Well I guess if we are going to be training I'll need to have my swords out." He summons his swords and places them on his back under his straps.

"You should have seen the contest between them Kuro won clearly." Kaido laughed.

"You wanna go?" Kiyo yelled at him.

"You probably lose anyway Dobe ha-ha." Kaido laughed as Kuro gave him a sharp glare.

"Just because you were higher ranked in class than I was doesn't mean I'd lose to a halfa like you!"

"Kaido you forget who was at the top of the class. If I say it doesn't matter, you certainly shouldn't care about it either." Kuro spat annoyed at Kaido's repeated mention of Kiyo rank over the past few months.

"Why do you keep mentioning it huh? Why do you hate me?" Kiyo yelled at Kaido.

"I'm just playing around, I don't hate you." Kaido said confused why they are making a big deal out of it.

"If you intend to keep calling me a 'friend' then stop teasing me! It's not cool and I got enough of that when I was a kid! Especially when I moved here!" she fumed and walked off.

Tamaki walked over to Kaido, picking him up by the hoodie. "Just what exactly have you been saying to my daughter?"

Kuro walks over to diffuse the situation, "Oi oi don't worry Kaido just jokes around a lot. Usually it causes me more headaches than anything, if he made Kiyo cry I would make him regret it. I hate it when people make my friends cry." Kuro said.

Tamaki dropped the boy. "Kiyo didn't tell me she had such a reliable boyfriend." He chuckled.

"Oh I'm not her boyfriend. I'm just a friend my heart belong to a girl I have known since I was six years old, I write her every week, only thing I haven't told her is something I don't think she should worry about." Kuro said rubbing the back of his head.

"It's alright, I was joking. My race changes physically when they find a mate." Tamaki smiled.

"So the way you know if your daughter is in a relationship by the way she looks?" Kira asked.

"Ah yes, you see when a succubus loses their-"

"Oh god!" Shiyan cut Tamaki off. "No! Just NO!"

Both Kuro and Kaido sweatdropped, "So when do we start our serious training Kira?" Kuro asked.

"When _someone_ goes and retrieves Kiyo." Kira glared at Kaido.

"Not it." says Kuro right before Kaido even had a chance to open his mouth.

"Fine." Kaido groaned.

Shiyan sighed, "I'll go with you to make sure you don't get killed." She left with him.

"Let's wait here until they get back." Kuro stated.

"I really don't understand what's wrong with playing around." Kaido thought out loud.

"Kiyo was constantly teased when she was a kid. Even more so when she moved to this village." Shiyan stated. "Why don't you know that? You've been her friend longer than I have…"

"I don't really delve into others past too much, plus I never really bothered to get to know anyone before I was put in this squad." Kaido said scratches his head sheepishly.

"Ha…" Shiyan sighed. "You're a real bum, you know that?"

"Hey I resent that." Kaido said.

"No you don't." Shiyan laughed. "But…just try to be nicer to Kiyo ok? She might be tough as a rock on the outside but she's still a girl. You gotta remember that alright?"

"Alright, I will I don't want Kuro to beat the crap outta me." Kaido laughed. Shiyan spotted Kiyo on top of a nearby building. Kaido jumped next to Kiyo. "Hey...I'm really sorry about being such a douche Kiyo, I really was just kidding."

Kiyo looked up at him, rubbing tears from her eyes. "Y-you mean that? Cause if you don't my daddy will kill you."

"Yes I mean that, and not if Kuro killed me first."

Shiyan joined them. "I won't let them kill you. Anyway, I know why you get so mad when he teases you. Kiyo, you actually do have a boyfriend don't you, from another village?"

Kiyo got wide-eyed. "Y-yeah…" she admitted. "It's weird though…because I call him Kuro too; just Kuro-chan, instead of –kun."

"Well he probably isn't as strong as our Kuro, ha-ha." Kaido laughed.

Kiyo lightly punched him. "You don't know that~! No, he's not physically stronger, I'll admit that. But as ninja – he was the top of his class and was even on a B-ranked mission and didn't even get hurt!" she defended her human. "Hmph, if Kira-san lets us go, you'll see him in the Chuunin exams."

"What kinda ninja is he?" Kaido asked.

"He's…he…" Kiyo pondered searching for the right words to describe him. "Oh!" she put her hands on the top of her head like cat ears. "He likes kitties."

"That is awesome!" Shiyan gave her a thumbs up.

Kaido face palmed as he walked away "I should stick with hanging out with Kuro"


	19. Travel

**KO 19: Travel**

The next day was the beginning of their real training. At 7am and Kuro arrived at the training grounds. Seeing he is the only one there, he sat down under a tree and enjoyed the morning air. _Wow I beat Kira here…this is odd. _Kuro thought.

A few minutes later, Kiyo arrived to see Kuro doing a headstand against the tree. She knelt down next to him and poked him while asking, "What are you doing?" she kept poking him.

"I'm relaxing, what are you doing up so early?" Kuro asked.

"Dunno, I wake up early sometimes…" she continued her poking. "And how is that relaxing?"

"It doesn't look relaxing?" Kuro asking confused.

"Nope. Not that it looks painful either but….you're face is really red right now."

"It happens when I do this, it's just the blood flowing to my head." Kuro said.

"I know that…but it can't be good for you…"

"I feels fine though and it help strengthens my neck." Kuro said.

"Whatever floats your boat."

"Yo Kiyo what's up? Wait, why is he on his head?" Shiyan asked pointing at him.

"Relaxing apparently." Kiyo kept on poking him.

"It's Kuro don't ask." Kaido said.

An hour later Kira finally showed up. "Ah good you all are already here." She handed Kiyo, Kuro, and Kaido a form. "The chuunin exams in Konoha will be taking place in ten days. That's registration form. While we train today think about if you want to go." After the Trio took a minute to look at the form, Shiyan sat under the tree holding them while they trained. "Today's exercise will be learning how to walk vertically up a tree."

"Alright...wait how?" Kuro asked.

"_Baka_…haven't you seen the older ninja run up walls of buildings?" Kiyo stated.

"No because he just jumps over everything." Kaido said with a laugh.

Kiyo laughed too. "True!"

Kira sighed. "You'll do that by using your chakra. Try imagining a small amount of chakra around your feet. Then run up this tree until you can't," she pointed to the largest tree in the area, "mark it with a kunai, and whoever gets to the top first can skip my training for a week." Kuro ran up the tree _without_ his chakra and stuck the Kunai at the top. "Kuro...with chakra not your strength, you can't stand without your chakra." Kaido ran up the tree a full speed and hit the top, but like Kuro he didn't use his chakra. "Lazy-ass use your chakra not your speed!" Kira yelled.

Kiyo was the only one who actually tried to use chakra. On her first try she went up the tree all of about five feet before losing grip and falling on her butt, hard. "Owww~! Fucktard!" she threw a kunai at the tree in ager, marking the highest place her foot hit.

"Alright you guys try to beat Kiyo and NO cheating!" Kira glared at them.

Kuro channeled chakra to his feet and he started to walk up the tree but just shy of Kiyo's mark he foot went through the bark and he was stuck there. "What the fuck?"

Kaido sighed. With his chakra control he simply walked up the tree and stuck a kunai at the top. "Done I win, time for me to nap."

"You jerk~!" Kiyo pouted. She took out a kunai, ready to mark her place as she closed her eyes. She visualized herself reaching the top. She tried again, this time going up fifteen feet and falling on Kuro, 'helping' him out of the tree.

"Aw fuck." Kuro almost crashed to the ground but before he hits the ground he throws a chakra card at the top and attaches a chakra string, using it to catch both of them.

"Th-thanks." Kiyo blushed as threw the kunai to mark her place. "But I'm still ahead of you." She giggled.

"Well I just had an idea." Kuro repels down the tree, drops Kiyo off, and then climbs up the tree with the string. He added slack while focusing chakra in his feet till he is barely using it to hold him up. Then he let go and is able to stand vertical, but doing so is taking so much concentration he can't move at all.

"Cheater~!" Kiyo yelled at him. Kiyo tried once again only focusing on getting to the top instead of the actual chakra exercise. This time she made it two-thirds up the way of the tree. Kuro inches up the tree which annoyed Kira because the amount of control it should take to use his chakra string should allow him to run up the tree with ease.

After three days with Kiyo unable to beat her two-thirds up the tree and Kuro only inching halfway, seeing Kuro constancy inching up the tree was getting on Kira's nerves and on this day she snapped and yelled at him. "Kuro you dumbass! How the hell can you pull a thin string of chakra from your cards but not be able to do this exercise?" she then throws a kunai at him causing him to crash in to the ground leaving a small hole in the ground where he landed.

"Wait...Kira I just need to focus just like when I'm pulling my chakra strings, fuck why didn't I see that connection I really am bad at that sometimes." Kuro then focused hard and ran up to the top of the tree and stood there vertical and stuck a kunai there.

Kiyo's eye twitched. "WHY AM I ALWAYS LAST?" Kiyo focused her chakra and ran straight up the tree, finally making it to the top.

"Nice job Kiyo." Kuro said smiling to his teammate.

She laughed, calming herself down, "Thanks…sometimes I just need the right motivation, he-he."

After the two cam down from the tree and Kaido arrived to tease them, Kira asked them what they're answers were. "So kiddies…are you going to Konoha for the Chuunin exams? Or not?"

"Kira I guess you already know my answer, I definitely want to go to the Chuunin exams." Kuro said.

"I guess I'll go also at least that way I'm safe from punishment from you, sensei." Kaido laughed.

"I'm going too, lazy ass." She retorted, "Anyway, what about you Kiyo? I know you have a hard time adjusting to different places and we'll be there for a while."

"I'll do it! I wanna go to the Chuunin exams!" Kiyo exclaimed proudly.

"Good…" Kira smiled, "Cause the only way you can enter is with a team of three genin."

Kira told the three to meet at the village gate in one hour to leave for Konoha ASAP. Kaido arrived at his house. He heads to his room and grabs all his gear and clothing; then he walked into the kitchen where his mom was working. He walked up to her and said, "I guess I'll see you and Raikage-sama at the exams." Kaido said then his mom gave him some home cooked food to eat on the way to the village. "Bye mom." Kaido then sped off to the gate.

Kuro arrived at his estate where he already had his supplies packed including a nicely wrapped small box for a special person in Konoha. He simply collects his stuff but he takes a detour on the way to the gate. When he arrives at his family memorial he sits down against the grave stone for his parents. "Hey mom, hey dad, guess what I'm going to the Chuunin exams. Wish me luck. You tell everyone up there I said I will make our family proud. Dad I'm avoiding the path of an avenger just like you warned. I'm glad you saved me from that way of life because I would have missed the great friends I made since I became a ninja. Well, I'll visit once I get back from the exams, I love you all." Kuro then picks himself up and heads off to the gate.

Kiyo grabbed what she needed from her room and some snacks from the kitchen. Her eye caught sight of a letter that was sitting on her coffee table. She stared at it for a moment, hesitant to take it with her to Konoha. "I won't let my village down." She said to herself as she picked it up and walked out the door.

"Leaving without saying goodbye, Kyo-chan?" Her step-father, Sousuke Kusuri, stopped her halfway to the village gate.

"Like you honestly give a damn. That day you visited, I know it was an act-you knew Kuro and Kaido were there." Kiyo retorted.

"Kira-chan told me about those…exams. You know I don't care if you take but for my family's sake: register with your real name." Sousuke ordered. "But for your mother's sake…don't die."

"I can't die. Gaara is proof of that." Kiyo said, referring to a certain jinjuuriki's jutsu.

"Just be careful. You know what's on the line if you aren't."

"How can I forget?" Kiyo asked coolly as she walked away.

"Now that we're all here, we can leave for Konoha." Kira stated as she turned around to lead the Trio. "Take a good look; you won't be seeing Kumo for a while now."

"Well Kira, I'm more excited to see Konoha again. I did spend the first six years of my life there." Kuro said.

"What, what?" Kaido asked.

"Ya I was born in Konoha." Kuro clarified.

"Really? Well, at least we won't get lost." Kiyo stated. _'Oh wait…"_Shit_!"_

"You forget something Kiyo?" Kuro asked.

"Oh uhm that was out loud? I just forgot…my…manga. Yeah I forgot my manga-ttebanya." Kiyo avoided eye contact. _'At least it's not a complete lie.'_

"Baka." Kaido laughed.

"Sh-shut up~!" Kiyo pouted.

"Can you go without it Kiyo couldn't you just buy another copy?" Kuro asked.

"I guess I can live without it but…it'shardyaoisoIcan'tbuyanothercopyeveragain." Kiyo rushed the last part on purpose.

"So Kuro you were born in Konoha? Interesting." Kaido said trying to ignore what he just heard.

"Ya we moved to Kumo because of circumstances outside of our control." Kuro said also trying to ignore what she said.

"So did we…from Suna…" Kiyo stated.

"We guessed, since you don't see red heads in Kumo." Kuro laughed.

"No…Karui's a redhead." Kiyo corrected him. "She was in our class…"

"But she's dark skinned like Kaido, and you're like between Kaido and myself in skin tone." Kuro said.

"She still has red hair! Skin color has nothing to do with hair color!"

Kira turned her head slightly to give her student the idea to pipe down.

A few days later, and after much irritation with each other, Kira and the Trio finally reach the gates of Konoha. "Meet me at this place in a few hours." Kira handed them each a map and glared at Kiyo for a second before leaving them behind to meet a good friend.

"I guess we'll just go walking around the village." Kuro said.

"Alright Kuro." Kaido said.

"Uhm, I think I'll explore for a bit. Cya guys later!" Kiyo waved as she disappeared too.


	20. Introducing

**KO 20: Introducing…**

"Kuro we're lost." Kaido stated.

"How can we be lost when we are just wandering around?" Kuro said.

"I don't know, but we're lost." He stated.

"Well let's rest up, I see a tree over-" Kuro is interrupted when a little kid with goggles on his head and a scarf that was way too long for him bumped right into him.

"Uhhh…is that a midget?" Kaido questioned.

The kid, probably an academy student look up and say the blonde hair and blue eyes and said, "Sorry Naru-" He noticed the hair was more tame, his outfit was blue and his voice was slightly deeper, "Wait your not Naruto, I'm confused."

"Hey kid, nice goggles. Shame if they'd get broken, huh?" Kaido tried to scare the boy off so they didn't have to deal with him. Before Kuro could hit his friend for being an idiot, a rock flew close to him but he batted it away hitting a nearby bird making it explode in to a mess of feathers. "Hey Kuro, I think you hit a foul ball." Kaido laughed.

"You're an idiot." Kuro laughed a bit.

"Hey what are you doing to Konohamaru?" A blonde, orange-clad ninja yelled

"Nothing Kai-"

"They are ninja from another village; they are going to kidnap him!" A raven-haired, blue-clad ninja assumed from a nearby tree, cutting Kuro off.

"Hey duck butt! Haven't you ever heard if you assume you make an ass out of you and me?" Kaido said.

"Hey Sasuke, I don't think they're trying to kidnap him, Konoha and Kumo are on good terms these days." The pink haired kunoichi said.

"What are you doing in our village anyway? You need permission to cross country lines." 'Sasuke' stated.

"We're here for the Chuunin exams, bird-brain." Kiyo stated, appearing on the other side of the tree. She jumped down, joining her team again.

"Ah, hey there Kiyo." Kuro said.

"So what the hell happened?" Kiyo coldly asked, not being in a good mood after her exploration.

"Ah nothing, just Kaido trying to be a retard by scaring a kid from another village." Kuro said giving Kaido a glare.

"What do you mean trying? He's always like that-ttebanya." Kiyo started to get back in a good mood.

Sasuke jumps out of the tree. "You, with the swords, what's your name?"

"I am Kurinto Masato." Kuro said.

"I'm Sasuke Uchiha. We're both the last our clans…aren't we?"

"I guess so. Hopefully next time we meet it's on better terms and not in the middle of a huge misunderstanding." Kuro said.

"So, you look like Naruto and you're mature than Sasuke. This is confusing; I thought all blondes of this generation were dumb!" The pink haired girl said to herself.

"Naruto? Who's that?" Kuro asked.

"This _dobe_ right here." Sasuke pointed to the blonde. Kiyo got a sour look on her face and glared at Sasuke. "What's wrong with _him_?" he pointed at the redhead.

"Um big mistake dude." Kuro said moving as far from the path between Kiyo and Sasuke.

"I'M. A. GIRL!" Kiyo yelled as she kicked the last remaining Uchiha in the crotch, leaving him in a great amount of pain.

"She was the last of our class and people for some reason can't tell she is a girl, I don't know why. I hate people holding academy ranking in so much esteem as well." Kuro said walking away with his team.

As they walk toward the spot on the map Kira gave them they hear a voice that sounded familiar to Kuro. "KURO-KUN YOU"RE HERE~!" Kuro is then glomped by a girl with dark brown hair and green eyes. Her outfit consisted of a green and black long sleeved zip up jacket, open, with a black tank top under it. A short skirt with black legging with a small green pack at the small of her back, her Konoha head band like a belt at the front of her skirt, and black ninja shoes. She has a body shape seemingly more developed for her age.

Kiyo blushed while looking at her. _'I can see why Kuro likes her. She's so beautiful…'_ Kiyo looked at the ground with depression. '_Beautiful…'_ she repeated in her head, '_unlike me…'_

Seeing who it is made Kuro almost blush, he wrapped his arms around the girl and says. "Happy Birthday Rosu-chan." Before she could say anything Kuro planted a soft kiss on her lips.

Kiyo looked up just as he did this, her eyes watered up.

"Hey Kiyo you ok?" Kaido asked, concerned for her, for once in his life.

"Yea I'm ok…it's just uhm...summer allergies…" Kiyo took off her glasses, rubbing her eyes.

Kuro noticed he and Rosu were in public and he did something his two friends would ever see: he blushed. "Sorry about that I was so happy to see Rosu again I lost myself."

Rosu with a fully flushed face stuttered, "S-Sorry about that I really missed my Kuro-kun."

Kuro then he had an idea. "Rosu, why don't you come with us to meet up with our sensei? Supposedly one of her old friends has a genin squad in the exams too so we are meeting up with them."

"Are you going to be in the exams too?" Kaido asked Rosu.

"Nope I'll be busy learning medical jutsu. My only combat abilities are long range jutsus with a senbon shooting crossbow, Kuro's dad made my Dad when he was a medic." Rosu said.

Kiyo almost fell over. Crossbows were a vampire's worst enemy. "A-a c-c-c-cr-crossbow?"

"Something wrong Kiyo?" Kaido chuckled, knowing full well why she reacted that way.

Rosu linked her arm with Kuro and he said, "Well let's go meet Kira."

Kiyo's stomach growled, loudly. "Uhhh…is there a place we can eat for lunch?"

"Well there is Ichiraku ramen." Rosu said.

"What kind of place is that?" Kaido asked.

"A place for ramen obviously." Kuro said.

"Baka," Kiyo said, "even I could tell." The four genin head over to the ramen stand, led by Rosu.

"Naruto?" The stand owner and cook questioned Kuro as he walked in.

"Dad that not Naruto, this guy's so much taller than he is." The cook's daughter told him. '_And cuter~'_

"I don't get why people confuse me for him." Kuro said.

"Maybe it's cause you're blonde and blue-eyed." Kiyo suggested.

"Kuro wears blue and has two large swords on his back." Rosu said.

"Thanks for stating that Capitan obvious." Kiyo retorted.

"Nah it was a good point, right Kaido?" Kuro said.

"Yeah she has a point." Kaido said.

"Whatever…" Kiyo shrugged. "Can we just order already?"

"Ya, I'll have an order of pork ramen and Rosu will have a miso ramen." Kuro said and Rosu nodded.

"I'll have chicken ramen." Kaido ordered.

"You would get that…I'll have the same." Kiyo said. Their food is soon served to them. Kiyo sniffs it and pushes it away slightly. "W-why is there garlic in here?"

"Oh shit Kiyo is allergic to garlic." Kuro lied knowing the real reason Kiyo can't have garlic.

"Do you need to go to the hospital Kiyo?" Rosu asked.

"Oh, no I'm fine." She covers her nose. "I just can't have it in large in amounts, plus I can't stand the smell."

Kuro eats his ramen peacefully and spills a bit on his cheek. Seeing this, Rosu takes a napkin and wipes his face, "Try as you might Kuro-kun, you still have a bit of a messy eater side to you." Rosu said with a soft smile.

"Thanks Rosu-chan." Kuro said restoring her smiles.

"Get a room." Kaido joked as Kuro and Rosu faces flushed slightly.

"Yea really…" Kiyo said sarcastically as she carefully ate her ramen.

"Sorry." They both said in unison.

"Yea whatever, I'm gonna go feed somewhere else." Kiyo got up and left.

"She's in a bad mood again…I didn't do it this time." Kaido said.

Kuro and Rosu were too wrapped up in their own conversation to notice Kiyo storming off. "So Rosu-chan I have a birthday gift for you." Kuro said as he pulled out a small box.

"No Kuro-kun just being able to see you again is the only gift I need." Rosu said bashfully.

"No I insist I made it just for you Rosu-chan." Kuro than placed the wrapped box into her hand and pecked her on the cheek. Rosu opened the gift to see a silver circlet with an emerald gem in the middle the circle had two vine designs where the gem met the silver.

Rosu put it on and promptly hugged her boyfriend tightly, "I love you, Kuro-kun."

Kuro smiled and replied, "I love you too, Rosu-chan." During this time Kaido was taking mental notes in the how to act with a girlfriend when he asked the girl he had in mind out.

Kuro notices that Kiyo is missing. "Hey were did Kiyo go?"

"She left to go 'eat' somewhere else," Kaido told him, "five minutes ago."

"Wow that's odd, why didn't I notice?" Kuro said out loud.

"You're girlfriend distracted you." Kaido said bluntly.

"Whoops, but it's a valid excuse though. Well let's go looking for her." Kuro said.

"Alright, lead the way." Rosu said. They pay for the food and leave to go look for her.

Kaido spots bright red hair out of the corner of his eye as they walk past an alleyway. "Kiyo!" He sees that she's pressing another up against the outside wall of a building, sucking her blood. Kuro notices this too so he distracts Rosu so she doesn't see Kiyo until she finishes.

Kiyo set the violet-haired Konoha girl gently on a nearby bench. "Oh so you guys actually care about me now?" Kiyo asked bitterly as she walked back over to her team.

"Sorry about that Kiyo." Kuro said rubbing the back of his head sheepishly as Rosu bows apologet-iccally.

"Sorry, me and Kuro are just excited, plus Kuro is giving me a lot of attention since it's my birthday as well."

"Whatever…" Kiyo pulled a small box out of her pocket and shoved it in Rosu's hands. "I-I thought you could use something that would match that jacket. B-But this doesn't make us friends you got that?" Kiyo blushed not wanting to admit being nice to someone that for no real reason, angered her.

"Thank you Kiyo." Rosu then hugged Kiyo close.

"I think Rosu would disagree on the whole doesn't make you friend part." Kuro chuckled.

"KYA~!" Kiyo squealed. "Get offa me~!" she pushed the younger away. "You're gonna give me your girly germs~." The redhead whined.

The other three simply laughed at Kiyo's reaction to a simple hug.

"Well if we don't hurry well be late to meet Kira." Kuro then picked up Rosu and jumped up to the top of a building and yelled. "Last pair to the meeting place buys lunch while we are in Konoha." Kuro then jumped into the tree lines easily moving quickly even though he is carrying Rosu.

"We're gonna lose aren't we?" Kiyo asked Kaido.

"Yeah…" Kaido sweatdropped. Sure enough, the two were after Kuro and Rosu. Kira was already there as well.

"Now all we have to do is wait for my friend and his team to get here and we'll introduce you all."

"Alright, by the way, me and Rosu kicked Kaido and Kiyo at team race." Kuro laughed.

An hour later the other, Kira's friend along with his team, arrives. "Hello there. Kira, sorry I was late; I lost on the path of life."

"LIES!" Kaido and Kiyo shout at the same time. "Wait a sec…" Kiyo recognizes his team. "It's you guys!" The two teams yell at each other.


	21. The First Exam

**KO 21: The First Exam**

The Trio arrived at the Konoha Ninja Academy at 3:30 in the afternoon a week later to take the first part of the exam. As they find their way to the testing room, they pass a group of genin on the second floor trying to get in a classroom. "Hey is that the way to the exams?" Kaido asked.

"No way, the form says it's on the third floor this is the second. Those two big shots must've put up some kind of Genjutsu on the room sign." Kiyo explained.

"Ya and we aren't going to dispel it. If we leave it there, some of the lower end ninjas will get left behind and miss the exams, c'mon we got one more floor to go." Kuro said.

The Trio walk into the exam room where dozens of other genin await for exam to begin. They go to the front of the room and sit. "Kiyo-nee-sama!" A certain blue-haired goth-loli glomped the girl.

"M-Misa-chan! You're taking the exams too?" she asked her old friend.

"Hey Misaki." Kuro said.

"Oh hey Kurinto, hey Kaido. You guys should meet my team too!" Misaki waved them over. "This white-haired guy is Senku and the black haired one is Michiru."

"Aren't you this year's no.1 rookie…Masato right?" Senku asked.

"Ya but I kinda don't like people judging me based off of my academy rank." Kuro rubbed his head sheepishly.

"Hey Kiyo-kun, haven't seen you in a while…" Michiru smiled at her.

"Oh hey Michiru-kun…" Kiyo blushed.

"You…" he looked her over, "haven't grown a bit." He put a hand on her chest.

Kiyo uppercut Michiru, "Pervert! No touchie! Dattebanya!"

_I would have thought we have our perv quota was filled. _Kuro thought to himself as he facepalmed. Kaido napped on one of the benches.

"Kurinto and his team from Kumogakure, and Rock Lee from Konoha." The two from Kumo hear Sasuke say from back of the room to a 'glasses-guy'.

"Man, that's no fun, you even know their names. That makes it easy." The silver haired older boy smirked as he took four cards from a deck. "Here they are."

"Show 'em to me." Sasuke demands. The other boy explained who Rock Lee was then went on to Kuro.

"Hmmm let's see Kurinto Masato, last of the Masato Clan and a year older than you. His family was murdered 6 years ago right in front of an 8 year old Kurinto. Sensei is Kira 'the Violet Flame'. His team has completed 14 D rank missions and 1C rank. His clan is known for a triple element affinity called Tempest, as well as stronger bodies than average people, and the ability to form chakra strings between two objects made out of their clan's special chakra metal. He also has abnormally high strength, possibly chakra enhanced. He wields his clan swords in combat, which are two black bastard swords made out of the Masato's Chakra metal. His ninjustu is Chuunin level, as is his taijutsu and kinjutsu. His genjutsu level is not worth mentioning, but he is skilled in breaking them with an unknown method. His fuuinjustu is unknown. He's originally from Konoha and goes by Kuro." The older boy explained to Sasuke and the other rookie Konoha genin.

"That's…that's horrible…" Sakura feels sorry for him, "to have your family killed like that…"

"I can relate…" Sasuke says.

"The youngest of that team, Kaido, the same age as you guys. Taijutsu is low Chuunin, speed is Jounin, just like Kuro genjutsu is non to be spoken of, and ninjutsu is mediocre. Since he was born in Kumo I don't have much else on him. And the last member of that team…Kiyo, about two years older than you…I don't have much on her….just that she wields some kind of weapon. Her taijutsu is chuunin level and so is her genjutsu, the complete opposite of her teammates. She was born in Suna, but get this…" he pauses, "apparently she has incredible healing abilities on a Jounin level and she never entered in any ninja school until she was twelve."

"This girl didn't even start academy until she was twelve? That's when most people graduate." A boy with a spiky ponytail stated.

"Tch, what a fucking creeper…" Kiyo retorted as she pushed her glasses up.

"Ya I see you guys are digging up our info and my past..." Kuro said as they walked up to the group. "Well what happened, happened I can't change it so I just strive to become a ninja that would make them proud if they were alive, basically I choose reverence over revenge." Kuro said.

"How cool~!" Sakura and a blonde girl fawn over him.

"Not here too…" Kiyo facepalmed. Kaido laughed in his sleep.

"MY NAME IS NARUTO UZUMAKI! AND I'M GONNA BEAT EVERY ONE OF YA! DATTEBAYO!" Naruto roared at the rest of the candidates, waking up Kaido in the process.

"IDIOT!" Sakura has Naruto in a headlock."Oh, pay no attention to him. He really should be on medication y'know?" she apologizes for him.

"C'mon let him have some fun Sakura." Kuro said.

"Why are you so abusive, Pinkie?" Kiyo added. Sakura stared at the two like they multiple heads.

"I may be abusive, but at least I don't look like a guy!" Sakura teased.

Kuro then pulls Naruto and scoots away toward Kaido. "I think we are at a safe distance."

"I'M NOT A GUY! DATTEBANYA!" Kiyo yelled at her, even louder than Naruto just did.

"Ya, Naruto whatever you do never say what Sakura said to Kiyo." Kuro advised him.

"G-got it-ttebayo…."

"Hey Kaido you missed a lot." Kuro said after seeing Kaido standing up.

"All I can tell, I just missed a lot of yelling." Kaido says.

Suddenly a ninja with grey camo pants jumps and attacks the glasses-guy with two kunai, he deflects them. Then another ninja, who seems to be part porcupine, tries to punch him and he dodges, his glasses break. "Wait a sec…he totally dodged that!" Kiyo exclaimed.

A moment later he throws up. "Kabuto are you ok?" Naruto and Sakura go to his side.

"Yeah…I'm fine…" Kabuto says.

Kuro summons his sword and stands in front of Kabuto. "Aren't you sound-nin getting a bit impatient, remember you have to wait for the exams to really start before you can fight anyone." Kuro says.

Kiyo covered her ears, "Augh! Dammit what the hell is that?"

"What sound I don't hear anything." Kuro said as he levels his sword to give the sounds-nin all a wordless threat.

"Would everybody please just shut up?" A large cloud of smoke appears in the front of the room. The cloud clears and a tall man with scars on his face speaks. "Sorry to have kept you waiting. My name is Ibiki Morino. I'm your proctor and from this moment, your worst enemy." He points at the three ninja from Oto, "First…You candidates from Otogakure knock it off! Who told you, you could fight? You wanna be failed before we've even begun?"

"Sorry, it's our first time. Guess we're a little jumpy…sir…" The porcupine one says.

"I'll say this once so listen up! There will be no combat between candidates, no attack each other without the permission of your proctor. And even then the use of fatal force is strictly prohibited! If any of you mess with me you be disqualified immediately. Got it?" Ibiki laid down the law.

"Well I guess I'll head back to my team." Kuro said as he dispelled his swords and walked back to between his two teammates.

"Now if we're ready, we'll proceed to the first stage of the Chuunin exam. Hand over your paperwork. In return you'll each be given a number; this number will determine where you will sit. We'll start the written test once you are all seated." Ibiki explained.

"Guh! I-I hate written exams…" Kiyo commented.

"Meh it'll be easy for us though." Kuro commented.

In ten minutes everyone is seated and has a test, face down. _'Why'd I have to sit next to him?'_ Kiyo thought since she was next to a boy with the tattoo for love on his forehead that looked like her twin. '_Let's see…Kaido is next to that Pinkie, and Kuro's next to that blonde girl from earlier…'_

_Hm… Kiyo is next to the red head from Suna, Kaido is next to Sakura, and I'm next to Rosu's friend._ Kuro thought.

Rosu's friend, Ino, took a good look at Kuro thinking, '_Wow, Ro-chan's really lucky to have such a good looking guy like him!'_

'_What the heck, man? A written test?' _Kaido complained in his head.

Ibiki explained the rest of the rules for the exam, but one rule especially caught Kiyo's attention. "One more thing…if any candidate should get a zero and fail the test…then the entire team fails."

_WHAT? Dammit Kaido you better not flake out on us!_ Kiyo glared at him.

"The final question won't be given until fifteen minutes before the end of the testing period." Ibiki explained more rules. "You'll have one hour total." The clock in the room clicks to 3:30. "Begin!"

Everyone flips their test over and sees how had it really is_. 'Whoa, whoa, whoa…what's with these questions? I bet only a select few could answer these questions besides me…' _ Kiyo thinks as she realizes, '_They…they're expecting us to cheat…They aren't testing knowledge, but rather our info gathering skills.' _Kiyo started writing the answers on her paper. '_I hope everyone else realized this too.'_

_'I guess I'll just move faster than they can see to get my answers.' _Kaido chuckled to himself.

Kuro begins writing the answers down on the paper with a rather 'special pen.' _'I wonder how long till Kiyo notices what I'm writing with_.' Kuro wondered.

Kiyo noticed the scent of Kuro's blood drifting her way, she smirked. '_It's about time; I was waiting for the answers to these last couple questions.' _Kaido was running around the room looking at every paper faster than any proctor could notice. Kiyo felt minute breezes from Kaido and hoped he would look at her paper to get the answers he needed.

Kuro puts his pencil down and leans back in his seat. '_He's done already?_' Ino screams in her head. _'I was just going to take forehead's answer but he is a lot closer. Sorry Rosu but I'm going to borrow your boyfriend for a second_.' Ino ready's to use her mind-transfer jutsu but right as her spirit enters Kuro's body it's shot right back at her body forcefully. _'What the hell was that!_ She thought as she stared right at Kuro. _'Why is he immune to my mind-transfer jutsu?'_

It comes time for the last question, "These rules are unique to the tenth question, try not to let them frighten you."

'_If the rules are scary what's the question like?'_ Kiyo thinks to herself.

"Very well then, rule number one…Each of you is free to choose not to be given the final question, it's your decision." Ibiki explains.

"What's the catch if we don't decide to? What happens then?" Kiyo asks.

"If you choose not to take the last question, regardless of your answers to the other nine, you'll get a zero. In other words you fail, and both your teammates fail as well." He smirks.


	22. The Tenth Question

**KO 22: The Tenth Question**

"Each of you is free to choose not to be given the final question, it's your decision." Ibiki explains.

"What's the catch if we don't decide to? What happens then?" Kiyo asks.

"If you choose not to take the last question, regardless of your answers to the other nine, you'll get a zero. In other words you fail, and both your teammates fail as well." He smirks.

"Well I guess that means we stay." Kuro said firmly.

"Not so fast, you didn't let me finish. If you do accept the question but answer it incorrectly, you not only fail, you will be barred from taking the Chuunin exam ever again!" Ibiki declared.

"Hey that's bull, man!" Kaido and a boy from Konoha with a dog on his head exclaimed in unison. "That's ridiculous! What kind of bogus rule is that? There's lots of people here who have taken the test before!"

"ARF!" The dog agreed.

Ibiki chuckled. "I guess you're just…unlucky. I wasn't making the rules before, but I am now. Of course if you don't want to take it, you don't have to. If you're not feeling confident, then by all means skip it. You can come back and try again next year." He laughed. "Now then if you're ready…those who don't wanna take it, raise your hand. Your number will be recorded and you'll be free to go."

Kiyo contemplated on whether or not she would raise her hand. She knew Kuro would want to go on and Kaido actually showed some interest in the exams and would probably want to go on too. '_What if I'm not good enough to answer the next question right?'_

Minutes pass by and no one raises their hand, but then a boy sitting next to Naruto raises his hand and as his team leaves several other teams leave as well, doubting Kiyo even more. Kiyo raises her hand and so does Naruto. '_He doesn't seem like the type to give up but….I guess even people like that would crack under pressure like this.' _As Kiyo is about to state that she wants to give up Naruto slams his hand on the desk.

"Don't underestimate me! I don't quit and I don't run!" he exclaimed. "You can act tough all you want! You guys won't scare me off, no way! I don't if I'm stuck as a genin for the rest of my life!" he stood. "I'll still be Hokage someday-ttebayo!" he declared.

"This decision is one that could change your life, if for any reason you would rather quit, now's your last chance." Ibiki says.

"No way, I never go back on my word. That's the way of the ninja." Naruto replied.

'_The way of the ninja huh?'_ Kiyo smiled at him and pout her hand back down. This puny blonde boy she barely knew gave her courage. '_Naruto…thank you…' _A smirk grew on Kuro's face and it seemed to move about the room showing that every Genin is in agreement with Naruto.

"Well then, I admire your determination, if nothing else. For those of you remaining there's only one thing left for you to do and that's for me to tell you…" Ibiki pauses, "That you've all passed the first exam." He smiled.

"…" realization hit Kiyo, "Hey what the hell? What about the tenth question-ttebanya?"

"There never was one, not a written one at least." Ibiki laughed. "In fact, your decision to stay was the answer to the tenth question."

"He played us good Kiyo even I didn't see that coming." Kuro chuckled.

Ibiki explained the importance of the tenth question and the whole purpose for the written exam with all its rules. The Trio walked back to their hotel room after the first exam was completely over. "Why did you think that was funny, Kuro? I almost had a heart attack because of all the stress."

"Well Kuro is immune to stress duh." Kaido answered.

"So, what, the only you aren't immune to is the common cold?" Kiyo deadpanned.

"Well only idiots can't catch colds remember?" Kuro said.

Kiyo patted Kaido on the shoulder, "Sorry dude…" she chuckled.

"Wait for what?" Kaido asked confused.

"You're the only one who hasn't gotten a cold yet."

"Well I'll meet you two later; I'm going to meet someone." Kuro said as he jumped over a near fence and ran off toward the market district of Konoha.

"….It's obviously Rosu…dattebanya…" Kiyo stated.

"Yup nice exit though have to give him that." Kaido laughed.

"True…" Kiyo said. A tall boy in a black jumpsuit from Suna came up to her.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" he asked her.

Kiyo nodded. "Cya later Kaido." She walked off with the Suna boy.

Rosu was standing near a dessert shop waiting for Kuro to arrive for their date. She was staring off into space when she was shocked back into attention when her eyes were covered.

"Guess who." Kuro said playfully.

"I don't know could it be my Blonde black smith Kuro-kun~?" Kuro then spun Rosu around and placed a light kiss on her lips causing her face light up to a bright red.

"So how did the first part of the exams go Kuri-kun?" Rosu said using her other name for her boyfriend.

"Well it was an information gathering exercise and I successfully got the answers distributed to my team. Even thought I bet Kiyo only needed a few and the final question was just a test of our determination, Naruto took the spot light there."

"We'll have 8 orders of dango." Rosu said and Kuro nodded in agreement.

After the two found a table they ate their snacks in peace and when one was left over Kuro slid the plate towards Rosu. "Here Rosu-chan have the last one." Rosu-slid it back towards Kuro.

"No I'm full; you should have it Kuri-kun." Rosu said.

This continued for about 5 minutes everyone in the shop had a smile on their face the cute couple trying to give the last dango to one another.

"Aww look at those two young loves, seem to brighten the room no matter how boring." the shop keeper said to one of his customers. "It's nice to see two young ninjas enjoying life like this."

Kuro decided he would have to be a bit playful to get Rosu to take the last dango. "Hey Rosu." Kuro said to her.

"Hmm what is-AHAHAHA." Rosu was cut off by Kuro tickling her and then popping the last dango into her mouth; she then ate it and smiled at Kuro. "Next time I'll get you to have the last one Kuri-kun."

"We'll just have to see." Kuro chuckled. "Well I guess I have to take you home, I have to talk with my team about the next part of the exam, but I'll walk you home."

They walked to Rosu's house hand in hand. Just as Kuro was going to place a good bye kiss to Rosu he was pulled away and under the arm of a tall man around 40 year old with thinning brown hair and green eyes who after giving Kuro a little noggie said, "Kuro my boy how's my future son-in-law been I haven't seen you in ages I trust you and Rosu had fun on your date."

"How did you know we had a date Papa?" Rosu asked

Rosu's dad laughed. "You had a bounce in your step the just screamed happiness so I know it was related to little Masato, but I have to say can't call you little anymore can I boy."

"I guess not Mr. Ando." Kuro said as Mr. Ando let him go.

"Please you can call me dad if you want." Mr. Ando smiled and Rosu light up with a pink blush thinking of her and Kuro in the future.

"Well by, Dad." Kuro said with a light chuckle and then turning to Rosu he came up with a great idea "And see you tomorrow Rosu-hime." Kuro said and as Rosu's face darkened to a brighter shade of red he place a deep kiss on her lips and hugged her tight letting go a few minutes later. "Good night." Kuro then walked off leaving a red-faced Rosu who was frozen under her blush.

"G-G-Good night K-Kuri-kun." she managed to stutter.

While walking to his hotel he saw Kiyo and one of the Suna-nins from before talking and he noticed Kiyo was dressed girly but obviously by choice, being a tiny bit disturbed by this he jumped over to the next road continuing on his way to the hotel. On which he jumped up into his squads room through the window and plopped down on a chair, seeing a sleeping form of Kaido he decide to read a book till Kiyo got back.

Late that night Kiyo snuck in through the window, careful not to wake up Kaido and Kuro. Kiyo was surprised when the lights suddenly came on. Kuro then spoke up, "Hey what's up Kiyo?"

"GAH!" Kiyo fell over in surprise. "Wh-wh-what're you doin' up this late-ttebayo?"

"I woke up a while ago, why are you up?" Kuro asked.

"Uhm…no reason…" Kiyo lied nervously. "Just…just looking at the stars."

"Alright." Kuro opened his book he was reading before and reads. Kuro knew she was lying but decided not to delve into it; he was content on letting her have privacy.

'_He…bought it? Not gonna complain.'_ Kiyo got on her futon and fell asleep.

At noon the Trio left their hotel room to so they could get lunch before the next part of the exam. Kuro was reading his book while walking which peaked Kaido's interest.

"Hey Kuro what are you reading?" Kaido asked.

"Oh it's a book Rosu-chan bought me it just a mythology book I'm reading about these people called Black Bloods."

Kiyo stopped in her tracks. "B-b-b-black bloods?"

"Ya I remember you said that before." Kuro said turning the page of his book.

"Uhm yea…" Kiyo caught up to them. "About that, don't…..if you ever encounter one…run."

"Why they can't be that tough." Kaido said.

"Black bloods…they're vampires that feed on other vampires…and kill them." Kiyo shudders.

"We'll tell us more I bet you have more knowledge on them than this book." said Kuro.

"I can't…"

"Why?" they both asked.

"'Cuz we're here-ttebanya." Kiyo pointed to the Forest of Death.


	23. The Second Exam Begins

**KO 23: The Second Exam Begins**

"We're here-ttebanya." Kiyo pointed to the Forest of Death.

"Hey Kiyo what's up?" Naruto walked up and high-fived her.

"Nothin' much just waitin' for the second test to start." She replied.

Kuro was still reading his mythology book so he simply waved to Naruto, "Yo Naruto."

"God Kuro is addicted to reading, reading hurts my head." Kaido said.

"Maybe you're not smart enough to comprehend the complexity of the writing. So much so, that brain feels like its gonna explode if you even dare try." Kiyo laughed a bit.

Kaido had a look on his face like his brain just got fried. "Looks Like you may have broken him Kiyo." Kuro said turn the page of his book.

Kiyo giggled and poked Kaido in the sides. "That was the point."

"We'll looks like more Konoha genin are showing up." Kuro said not looking away from his book.

Sakura came up to Kiyo as well, "Hey are you sure you'll be able to see with all that hair in your face?" she asked.

"I can see just fine Pinkie. You don't need to worry about me." Kiyo glared at her.

"Hey Kuro." Sasuke said. "What's with the book?"

"It's a book on mythology and such." Kuro said. "Though in the life of a Shinobi you never know when something that is mythology comes right up to punch you in the face." Kuro laughed.

"Or kick you in the balls." Kiyo laughed as she added that.

Genin start gathering closer to the Forest, or rather the fence around it. Anko the second exam proctor started to speak. "This is the location for the second exam, the 44th battle training zone. But we call it the Forest of Death."

'_Oh lovely,_' Kiyo sweatdropped.

"Well at least the name fits for a ninja exam." Kuro said.

"Yea but…this is gonna be hard…" Kaido whined.

"Well no one said this was going to be easy." Anko told him. "Soon enough you're gonna find out why they call it the Forest of Death." Naruto stared to mock her and then threw a kunai at him, slicing his cheek and the hair of a Kusa-nin. She appears behind Naruto like a creeper and wipes a bit of his blood of his cheek. "Tough guys like you usually leave their blood all over this forest."

Anko pulls out a kunai on the Kusa-nin who got her hair sliced. "I was…just returning your knife."

"Why thank you Kusa ninja. Ya know….I really only recommend you stand this close behind me if you wish to reach a premature end." Anko grabbed her kunai from the other kunoichi's tongue.

"My pardon… with the sight of blood and your blade slicing my hair, ehe, I'm afraid I just became a little excited." The Kusa –nin states. "I meant you no harm."

"Now before we begin this test, I have something to hand out to you all." Anko pulls a stack of papers out of her jacket. "It's just a standard consent form. Before the test all of you are going to have to read over this and sign it."

"Hey, hey whoa. What for?" Kiyo asked.

"Some of you might not come back from this test and I have to get your consent for that risk. Otherwise it would be my responsibility." Anko laughed. She then explains what happens during the exam and the rules. She gives everyone the consent form and 10 minutes to read and sign it.

"Hey…is it just me or does that Anko chick remind you of someone?" Kiyo asked Kuro and Kaido.

"What do you mean Kiyo?" Kuro said as he signed the form.

"I dunno….she kinda reminds me of Kira, without the cursing…"

"It's cause she has purple hair isn't it?" Kaido asked.

"That might be it." Kiyo agreed.

"Well I got my form signed you guys wanna go turn it in?" Kuro asked.

"Uhhh…yeah…" Kiyo sweatdropped at her signature.

"Hahaha! You're signature's so ugly! You write like a dude!" Kaido joked.

"Shut up ok? I have dyslexia, so there!" Kiyo stuck her tongue out. The three turn their forms in at the little hut with a curtain. "Uhm…Heaven right?" Kiyo asked quietly when she was handed the scroll. "Here Kaido, you hold on to it."

"Why me?"

"You're less likely to lose it than I am and Kuro's clothes seem to like to disappear." Kiyo stated and Kuro rolled his eyes at this. They go to the 8th entry gate and wait for the exam to start at 2:30. "Alright, I'm so totally beat up any ninja that come near us!" Kiyo exclaimed as she tied her bangs back in her ponytail.

"Like you could do that, _dobe_." Kaido teased.

"Can we not start this today?" Kuro asked.

Kiyo sighed, "Fine." The chuunin in front of their gate unlocked it and wait another moment before opening it letting them through. The Trio ran through the gate and after a few minutes stopped to get their plans together. "Okay so I did some researching yesterday at the library since I came across it and learned some of the species that inhabit this forest. Apparently there's this one type of leech that can sense heat and perspiration and it attacks in swarms so we have to be careful of that."

Kuro whispers in Kiyo's ear, "I bet you Kaido will get attacked by them before we leave here."

Kiyo snorts and laughs at that. "S-so true."

"Hey what's so funny?" Kaido asked them.

"Oh nothing nothing-already?" Kiyo pulled her teammates behind a tree, sensing another team coming their way. The other team appears on the other side of the tree. Kiyo put a finger over her mouth telling the two boys to keep their trap shut. After a couple of minutes the other team moves on and the Trio takes a sigh of relief.

"What was that for? Why didn't we just attack them?" Kaido asked.

"We don't know what scroll they have, plus they could just attack us even if we had the same scroll. And we have no clue what they're powers are, a big mistake not to analyzed your opponents abilities in a free-for-all like this." Kiyo explained. "Kuro, we're gonna have to rely on your outdoors man skills for this. Kaido if we get attacked, run and hide. We should probably have some kind of password thing if we get separated."

"Or even better…we could do this." Kuro then took out two of his card blades and handed them to his teammates. "Don't lose these, if you go off by yourself pull out this card and I will draw a chakra string from it. If it's a transformation jutsu the string won't work. If I head off when you see me approach, pull out the card, if I don't make the chakra string from the card I'm a fake. This way we don't waste time trying to memorize a stupid password."

"Yeah I think Kuro's plan is better." Kaido agreed with him.

"But what if it's someone using a puppeteer ninjutsu? They could easily deceive us that way. Can't we just use both, I was only gonna suggest 'Our' name as the password." Kiyo said.

"My chakra metal is irresponsive to the chakra of non-Masato; remember how I have to add blood to the metal." Kuro said.

"Why are worrying about this so much?" Kaido whined. "We'll be fine."

Kiyo smiled. "You're right…we'll be fine-ttebanya."

"I think we should split up and try to take out a weaker team with the scroll we need, all of us are on the higher end of the candidates. If we just avoid our friends of the Konoha genin we can get this done fast." Kuro said.

"I guess that's an okay plan, but when and where are we gonna meet?" Kiyo asked.

Kaido pulls out a map of the area and points to a point near the tower. "Here."

"My god…you're actually prepared…" Kiyo was astonished at Kaido and proud of him too.

They split up. Kuro heads deeper into the Forest and he stops in an area with a decent amount of cover. He's about to start his stake out when hears a girl's scream. He looked towards the direction it came from and he saw a Kusa kunoichi about to be run over by a giant lizard. Kuro then drew one of his swords and jumped, he landed by planting his sword in to the skull of the lizard-killing it instantly. "Hey you gotta be careful here. I'm sorry; I didn't catch your name." Kuro said pulling his sword out of the lizard's head sheaving it.

"I-it's Karin." The girl stuttered picking up her glasses. She clutched the Heaven scroll to her chest. "Thank you for saving me."

Kuro smiled. "No problem." he then sees she has the same scroll as his team. "Be careful in this forest." He turns around and waves to her as he walks away. "See ya around."

"Oh, bye…" she said in a quiet voice as he walked away.

Kiyo followed the smell of blood and came upon three Suna ninja arguing. Blood lay over the ground in the surrounding area. "You couldn't leave anything for me?" she asked the younger redhead.

"Shut up or I'll kill you." The boy moved his arm so his palm faced her.

"Tch. Stop threatening to kill me Gaara, you know you can't. Remember what happened last time you tried?" she warned him.

"Now, now you two. Can you please not start this?" Temari, Gaara's older sister pleaded.

"I guess, but…" Kiyo licked her lips and chuckled. "I need to be satisfied too y'know."

Kuro arrived at the rendezvous point to see a sleeping Kaido. Deciding he should punish his comrade, he pulled a metal cup out of his pack and filling it with water from a bottle and salt also from his survival pack. He lightly pulled open Kaido's eye lids and threw the salt water into Kaido's eye shocking him awake.

"AAAAH WHAT THE FUCK IT BURNS!" Kaido screamed.

"Don't fall asleep on the job, ya could have been knocked out and…do I have to remind ya…" Kuro pause as a tick mark appeared on his forehead, "Especially since you have our **DAMN SCROLL**!" Kuro yelled with a small amount of killing intent in his voice.

'_Kuro seems really irritable today. It's really weird but I'm not going to press this matter, I don't want my head bitten off.'_ Kaido thought.

Kiyo stumbled over to the two panting. Her jacket was gone and so was her hair-tie. She was covered in blood and other miscellaneous fluids and she had a bruise on her neck. "You guys are so fucking lucky…" she said in between pants.

"Looks like you been through hell, fang face." Kaido said.

"Shut it death boy, I just got eaten by a snake." She said clutching her scythe.

Kuro just looked at her and looked away. Kaido leans in and whispers to Kiyo, "Something's wrong with Kuro right now, I have no idea what."

A heartbeat resonated throughout Kiyo's body, "Yeah…I can tell…"

Somewhere nearby, Team Asuma of Konoha was watching the scene unfold before them. "Hey is that Kuro's squad?" Ino asked her teammates.

"Yeah it seems so. We should avoid running into them, fighting them would be too troublesome." Shikamaru said with a sigh.

"So what do we do?" Chouji asked as he munches on some chips.

"Well we should try to snea-" Ino was cut off by Shikamaru pulling her and Chouji down with his jutsu. Looking toward her teammates, Ino glared at Shikamaru. "What was that for?"

Shikamaru calmly said, "They are being ambushed we need to stay out of this."

Back with the Trio, a flash bomb was set off blinding Kuro and Kaido in the process allowing the boys to be knocked out by the attacking ninjas. "Well, well, well, looks like we have a squad of Kumo-nins, pretty powerful ones if my info is correct. Good thing us Ame-nins worked together on this plan." An older Ame genin said as three squads of Ame-nins walked out from behind the trees. "And all that is left is Kumo's _dobe_ what an easy victory."

"Tch. You all picked a pretty bad time to be fucking around with me." Kiyo swung her scythe in a defensive position.

"HA we ain't scared girly." One of the more perceptive Ame-nins snorted.

Kiyo started giggling then it turned in maniacal laughter, "I ain't a normal girl-I'm a vampire!" she yelled as she hit two of the nine with her scythe and pierced one with the spear. "Number 6 Wind Scythe!" she made a figure six in the air as it made deep gashes in three more ninja. Another charged at her, she swung her blade so it brought him closer to her, then she punched him unconscious.

The last two Ame-nin tried to do a combo attack on Kiyo but she simply pulled their arms crossing each other, making their faces hit. As the two dropped to the ground she dropped her scythe, going to the ninja she pierced with her spear. She began feeding on him. She fed on another and then went to the third ninja for her feeding spree. As she was about to feed on him, he grabbed her by the throat and performed a paralysis jutsu on her, rendering her temporarily paralyzed.

"Ha got you. I knew, when you said you were a vampire, we couldn't easily knock you out so I paralyzed you. Now I remember my parents telling me stories as a kid about something dealing with a steak to the heart." The Ame-nin then pulls off a branch making an improvised wooden steak. "Let's see how true it is." he readied himself for a direct downward swing right to Kiyo's heart. "Hope you burn in hell."

"That's not gonna kill me you impudent fool." Kiyo giggled.

"If not we can just drive enough of these into you till you die from lack of feeding." The Ame-nin smirked. "After we kill your teammates though."

"**NO! Don't you dare touch them**!" Kiyo yelled in a demonic voice, glaring at the man with hatred in her eyes.

"And who will stop me?" the Ame genin was just about to drive the first steak through Kiyo's heart when he is knocked down by such a deep killing intent that the Ino-Shika-Cho combo lost their respected lunches.

"**Hehehe. Looks like I get to play**." A deep dark demonic voice said in a playful tone.


	24. The Masato Secret

**KO 24: The Masato Secret**

"**NO! Don't you dare touch them**!" Kiyo yelled in a demonic voice, glaring at the man with hatred in her eyes.

"And who will stop me?" the Ame genin was just about to drive the first steak through Kiyo's heart when he is knocked down by such a deep killing intent that the Ino-Shika-Cho combo lost their respected lunches.

"**Hehehe. Looks like I get to play**." A deep dark demonic voice said in a playful tone.

His hair was a spiky mess, his grin a menacing smirk, but the most shocking change were his eyes the iris a deep blood red, the sclera's being pure black, the way he looked at the Ame-nins was that of a predator looking upon wounded prey.

"Who or what the hell are you?" the Ame–nin yelled.

_Oh Kami no…_Kiyo thought.

"**Who am I...well I like the name Kurinto gave me I am Shiro Masato and...**" Building up chakra in his legs he jumped forward with a force that left a crater behind him, grabbing the Ame-nin's throat and slamming said ninja into a nearby tree possibly breaking his neck. Shiro didn't give time for either him or the Ame-nin to figure out if it was just as the Ame-nin could barely see again Shiro had summoned one of Kuro's swords from a seal on his back and lopped off the Ame-nin's head, killing him. "**You're missing something I believe.**" Shiro said with a sick laugh, then after picking up the dead ninja's head Shiro chuckled, "**It would be a pain to carry around this thing, I bet the plants here could use some food but it would take forever for it to decompose what should I do?**" Shiro rubbed his chin, then with the same smirk he dropped the head on the ground jumped up and stomped on the head with such a force it practically exploded sending blood guts, and bits of brains all over the forest floor and over one of the Ame-nin's teammate, but Shiro was surprisingly clean. "**There that should do, so who's next?**" He looked towards the Ame-nins with a grin.

'_Fuck…not Shiro again…I…I have to stop him…'_Kiyo's body started to absorb the chakura the Ame-nin had forced in her body that activated the Paralysis Jutsu and she could move her hands again.

Two Ame-nins were frozen in fear while three of them sped off in an attempt to escape, but just before they passed the same tree were the first one was killed a chakra card hit the tree hard. then out of the card a string of white chakra shot out curving around the three Ame-nins and connected to Shiro's hand. "**Aww don't run away. When my victims run it makes me kinda sad and kinda angry too and when I get angry…**" Shiro jerked the string back hard causing it go taught with such a force it sliced cleanly through the necks of the three Ame-nins like butter. "**Heads will roll**." Shiro said right before he broke out in a fit of laughter. "**Man I crack myself up, so what to do with the last two?**" he sniffs the air making a fake face disgust. "**I think they may have shit themselves. I guess I'll just ended them normally, no fun.**" he said with a sigh throwing a chakra card right between the eyes of the last two of the Ame squads. He then reached into the pack of the furthest one of the group, grabbing two heaven scrolls and one earth scroll and threw them to the slightly paralyzed Kiyo, "**There Kiyo-chan get up, I'll go take care of the last three ninjas in those bushes then well go and advance to the next stage I can't wait for more fun he-he**." Shiro said as he walked toward Ino's squad.

Kiyo was able to sit up now and she reluctantly grabbed the three scrolls, "Ku-I mean Shiro…we have two pairs of scrolls-more than we need."

"**Burn them Kiyo-chan the less shitty genin brats I have to fight the better**." Shiro said. "**Now let's say hi to our guests." **Shiro grabbed the roots of the bushes the Konoha genin's were hiding behind.

"Is he going to come after us we need to ru-" Ino started to say but was cut off when the bushes they were hiding behind were ripped away

"**Now, now, now, Ino-chan you know what I said earlier now just sit still and-" **Shiro yelled out in pain and Kuro's voice rang out. "NO I WILL NOT LET YOU KILL THEM OR ANYONE ELSE!" as Kuro tried to suppress Shiro's influences. The runic markings appeared on his body and white was flaring out from his body and slowly being consumed by calm black chakra, as Kuro opened his eyes and the last of the black and red was disappearing Shiro calmly said. "**I'm not worried your only delaying the inevitable. I will control this body one day. Good luck in your fights though, that way when you challenge me I can have fun killing you**." Shiro laughed and his voice slowly faded away.

Once it did Kuro promptly passed out and Ino, Shikamaru, and Chouji breathed a sigh in relief but then Shikamaru looked towards Kiyo and asked, "What the hell was that?"

Kiyo stood and walked over to the passed out teammate and carried him over to where Kaido was laying. She turned to the spiky haired brunette, "I-I don't know much but…basically another person… within himself."

"Wait you mean like being possessed?" Chouji asked.

"Ya kinda…" Kiyo said somewhat timidly.

"AW WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED!" Kaido yelled rubbing the back of his neck, he then looks up and see all the blood and dead bodies. "OK really someone tell me what the hell happened." Kaido cried.

"Oh so now you wake up, lazy ass reaper…" Kiyo sighed in annoyance.

"WAIT REAPER?" Ino yelled.

"It's just an inside joke right Kai-chan~?" Kiyo laughed nervously.

"Nope I'm half-Shinigami, and Kiyo is a half-vampire." Kaido said sticking his tongue out at Kiyo just to be an ass by revealing her secret.

"You fucking douche bag!" Kiyo hit Kaido multiple times on the head.

"What'd I do?" Kaido cried.

"You revealed our secrets dumbass!" Kiyo yelled at him.

"You guys weren't kidding? You really aren't human?" Ino yelled-asked.

"I'm half human, she is half succubus. Not that she looks it." Kaido laughed.

"He's right you don't look like a succubus." Shikamaru said calmly. "And what about your friend? Is Kuro inhuman?"

"Nope he is completely human." Kaido said.

"I have my doubts…" Kiyo looked off to the side in depression.

"Your just in denial since he's stronger than you." Kaido chuckled.

"I'm stronger than you and you're a reaper so-ttebanya~!" Kiyo raspberries Kaido.

"Oh Kami, it's like there's two Naruto's on one team." Shikamaru facepalms.

Inside of Kuro's mind, his consciousness is stuck inside a white void, "What the hell is going on here?" Kuro thought.

"Wow Shiro did a number on your head Kurinto." a cool, calm voice said from behind Kuro.

"Who's there?" Kuro turned around and saw a man almost seven feet tall with an athletic build, blue spiky hair, and bright gold eyes, clad in a white robe.

"Well that's easy I am Katsuo Masato and the soul that resides inside of your swords." Katsuo said.

Kuro swiftly kneeled and bowed his head in respect for the man in front of him, "Founder-sama what are you doing in here?"

"Arise young one, all will be revealed in good time. But first you must know your chakra is different now, you know how each Masato either has white or black chakra." Katsuo said and he continued one after Kuro nodded his head, "Well before your father died he transferred some of his white chakra into your body combining with your black chakra making balanced Tempest Chakra. Meaning all jutsu you use is increased in power significantly, but it is because of your reverse personality to not only be more prevalent but also a lot stronger. Usually at the age of 17 a Masato will easily destroy that entity without fighting, but Shiro is far too strong causing your situation." Katsuo paused to allow Kuro to take this information in after it appeared the initial shock that was on Kuro's face had subsided Katsuo continued. "Now you need to know how to use your jutsus when they are normal. luckily I can teach you here in a short amount of time but first let's undo the damage Shiro has done to your mindscape." Katsuo snapped his fingers and the white mindscape transformed into an emerald green field with rolling hills, large mountains in the background and behind Kuro a crystal clear stream that lead to a large water fall.

"Amazing." Kuro said, "So how are you going to show me how to use Tempest Blast and Blades?" Kuro asked but in front of him, he saw a copy of Shiro standing motionless.

"Here use Tempest Blast, but make sure to either hit him on the head or in the center of the chest." Katsuo said.

"Gotcha." Kuro said as he made a Tiger then Tempest hand sign a black Tempest Blast forming in his hand. He charged forward and punched the copy in the chest causing the copy to fly back and explode in a small blast that would only have the power to knock out someone, Kuro looked at his fist obviously disappointed.

"Don't be disappointed that blast holds three times the amount of a normal punch, notice how little strain it put on your chakra reserves." Katsuo said.

Katsuo threw Kuro's swords at him saying, "Now for Tempest Blades, pay attention this Jutsu is still just as powerful as before but to get it to work is very tricky."

"You even say that 'datte' crap." Shikamaru added to his earlier comment.

"So we speak the same way. Got a problem with that Pineapple head?" Kiyo got in his face.

"At least I don't say long troublesome word all the time."

"Really? Isn't troublesome longer than dattebanya? Why take the trouble in saying troublesome? Sometimes humans make no sense at all."

Shikamaru stood in place and turned white. Chouji poked his friend, "I think you broke him."

"I have a knack for doing that to guys-ttebanya." She chuckled.

"So why is Kuro out cold anyways?" Kaido asked.

"Well you see-" Kiyo was interrupted by the voice of the person Kaido just asked about.

"Shiro got control and I repressed him, but it took a lot of my energy and I passed out." Kuro said.

"Kuro-kun, are you alright?" Kiyo asked, concerned.

"Ya just shaken a lot..." Kuro said.

"I would imagine…" Kiyo leaned over to Kuro's ear to whisper something. "_Can I erase their memories? I'm not too happy that Kaido just blurted out our secrets to them."_

Kuro whispered back,_ "No we have to live with what we are, not hide from it like children."_

"_It's not that I'm hiding from it. I just don't want people being scared of me because I'm a demon mutt-ttebanya."_Kiyo said.

"_Well they haven't run yet have they?_" Kuro pointed out.

"Well no but…i-it still bothers me." She said.

"Well having a psycho path in my head bothers me, so what did Shiro do while he had control?" Kuro asked.

"He killed six guys, whilst joking about it the whole time."

"Kami what a sick BASTARD!" Kuro then slams his fist into the ground leaving a small crater in it "Using MY body to kill for his own entertainment."

Kiyo picked Kuro up by his shirt, "Just be happy with the fact you're human ok? I'd rather be in your situation than mine…You have no idea what it's like…to be hated…By your own people no less…"

Kuro gently placed his hands on Kiyo's wrists, "I know you have had a hard past but think about this…Did you have to see your family murdered in front of you? See your own father mother and little brother killed all because one man was afraid of us. How about knowing who this man is without being able to do a single thing about it, or cleaning up the blood, burying the bodies of your clan. Also you have had a hard life but you haven't had the blood of loved ones sprayed on you because you were too weak to save them. But the past is the past, the only thing that matters is the present and, the future I promise to keep everyone I hold dear safe."

"I didn't…look I never said you had it easy either. I'm just saying that be happy you're human and… those friends of mine from Suna may not have been my family by blood…but they might as well been." Kiyo let him down. "I-I'm going on ahead…"

Kuro sighed and gave Kiyo a quick hug, "Kiyo remember these words, it doesn't matter who or what you are, and the only thing that matters is how you are."

Kiyo pushed away from him, "Try telling that to the purebred." She said as she started walking off. After a few steps she turned around, "Thanks Kuro…" she continued to walk on ahead, checking for anymore enemies.

'_Rosu-chan was right about the hug.'_ Kuro inwardly chuckled.


	25. The Prelims

**KO 25: The Prelims**

At the end of the first day the Trio turned their scrolls in and relaxed at the Center Tower for the rest of the examination period. When the second test was over they were called to an enormous room with a statue of hands in the center of the back and a balcony on either side of it. The Sandaime Hokage explained the purpose behind the exams. Then he explained the third exam and how it was based on individual efforts, not the team anymore.

The third exam proctor, Hayate Gekkou, explains that there is a need for a preliminary round before the official third exam. First up were Sasuke Uchiha and Yoroi Akado. During the fight Kuro pulls Kiyo and Kaido aside, "Guys when I suppressed Shiro my chakra changed to black chakra, which is one of the two chakra types Masato's have. My dad had white chakra, and when white and black chakra is mixed tempest jutsu are strengthened...But it allowed Shiro, who has white chakra to appear the way he did and to be as strong as he is compared to me. And now I'm free from that chakra, but both Tempest Blades and Tempest Blast have changed, and Shiro won't get stronger as I do."

Kiyo patted Kuro on the shoulder, "That's cause for celebration." She smiled.

"Well after we pass the prelims we will." Kuro smiled back.

"You rookies shouldn't be so cocky; you'll get the shit beat out of ya." Senku chuckled as he butted in their conversation.

"We aren't cocky, we're just certain we'll beat fossils like you." Kaido retorted.

"Kiyo-nee-sama~!" Misaki glomped her. "Wow you look so pretty with your hair down!" she exclaimed.

Kiyo blushed. "Aww…n-no I don't…"

"Of course you do~, guys don't you think Kiyo looks cute~?" Misaki asked the four.

"Can't say." Kuro said.

"Oh right, cause of Rosu…" Kiyo said.

"Oh hey look that Sasuke won." Kaido pointed out.

"I guess he did." Kuro said.

The next fight was between a Bug handler, Shino Aburame, and an Oto-nin, Zaku Abumi. Shino won by ordering his bugs to crawl up Zaku's air pressure tubes that were inserted into his arms. Kiyo started to shake with delight, she smelled the Oto-nin's blood and her heart started to beat throughout her body. "I want it…"

Misaki held Kiyo's hand, "Calm down you don't wanna cause a scene…"

"I-I know but…it smells so good-ttebanya."

"Will you be fine?" Kuro said.

"Yea…" Kiyo's other hand gripped the balcony's rail.

The next fight was Kankurou from Suna versus Misumi Tsurugi from Konoha. Misumi quickly wrapped himself around the Suna-nin explaining that with his precise chakra control he can dislocate every joint in his body and then manipulate it. He then proceeds to snap Kankurou's neck. "Kankurou!" Kiyo shouts. Suddenly his face breaks down and it turns into a puppet. "Yeah! Get him Kurou-chan! Beat his ass!" she cheered him on.

The next fight between Sakura and Ino ended in a draw. The fight after was also between two kunoichi, this time Temari from Suna and Tenten from Konoha were against each other. Temari defeated the younger girl with Wind style ninjutsu.

Then it was Shikamaru's turn to fight with the girl from Otogakure. "Ya know he matches you in laziness, I can tell." Kiyo stated to Kaido. "I wonder if he'll beat her." The fight began and it seemed the girl had him with her bell genjutsu, which also had an effect on Kiyo and Misaki's sensitive hearing. They're seeing double, triple, quadruple of things. Then Shikamaru used his Shadow Possession jutsu and knocked her out.

The next fight was Kuro versus Dosu. _'I'll show you Orochimaru, I'm no pawn.'_ Dosu thought. Kuro wasting no time and began the match by throwing a good amount of chakra cards at Dosu only for them to be deflected by what seems to be a gauntlet that emits a high pitched chirp that can deflect attacks. "Like my gadget, Blondie, not only can I it deflect your attacks, but I would be careful to keep this fight going on if I were you." Dosu said.

_'Well this is surprising, that gadget could pose a huge problem. I have to take care of it quickly.'_ Kuro grabbed even more chakra cards than before and just like last time they were knocked about the room.

Dosu smirked, "Kami are you just going to keep trying that? If so you'll have no hope of winn-" Dosu was interrupted by being jerked to the ground by a black string that, just out of nowhere wrapped around his left arm. _'What the fuck? Chakra threads how did he use this to wrap around me?'_ Dosu thought just before he had to dodge a punch by Kuro, who after pulling Dosu down grabbed another string and used it to sling shot himself towards the Oto-nin.

'_What are those? Chakra threads? But…how come they're black?'_ The puppeteer thought.

Dosu, thinking quickly, grabbed Kuro's leg from his gauntlet. He emitted a damaging sound wave "Like my melody arm Blondie? While your chakra threads trick shocked me, with this gadget I can damage you just by being near you." Dosu said.

Kuro, having lost his grip from the sonic attack from the Oto-nin's arm, got up albeit with a wobble and said, "Chakra threads, I'm sorry I'm not a puppet master. These are Chakra Strings, the difference being these strings are like extremely sharp metal wire, sharper than a fine katana." Kuro said as he rushed at the Oto-nin, bracing for the sonic attack that barely affected him. Since he was prepared for it, he connected with a hard straight punch into Dosu's face who used his arm to cushion the blow, but had to admit that hit hurt bad.

"How the hell can you handle my melody arm? That amount of chakra usually yields a stunning effect against my foes." Dosu yelled.

Kuro simply laughed, "Masato's have extra tough bodies in all ways, now let's see how many hits you can take." Kuro connected a string from a card that was imbedded in the ceiling of the room and pulled himself up and on a downward trajectory he aimed a powerful punch at the Oto-nin who in a panic charged his Melody arm with double the usual chakra this time push Kuro back and causing him to almost lose his lunch.

"Got you that time Blondie now that I got the amount of chakra to stun you look there is no chance for you." Dosu said.

"C'mon Kuro-kun you can beat him!" Kiyo cheered.

Kuro starts trying to grab a hold of Dosu with his strings and even after throwing more cards around the room he is unable to grab a hold of the Oto-nin. _'What the hell? I have to get him without getting close or else the sonic attack will mess up anything I try!'_ Kuro thought and before he could throw another card at Dosu he heard a voice from inside his head.

_'What are you doing Kuro? You are a Masato these sonic attacks should be child's play to endure, just smash his face and worry about the damage later.'_

_'But Katsuo how can I stop the sound waves?'_Kuro thought.

_'Well those sound waves would have a hard time hurting a larger bodied Masato right and he can't be that tough without it_.' Katsuo said hearing this Kuro smirked catching his drift.

"What's wrong Blondie, afraid of my Melody arm?" Dosu laughed.

"Nah I just had to get some time to think without having to smell that stench coming off you. Kami you ever change those bandages hedgehog boy?" Kuro said with a smirk.

"Hedgehog boy? You've got a lot of nerve, Blondie!" Dosu emitted sound waves once again.

Kuro placed his thumb on his collar which then dropped his vest to open up in a way the let it drop and hang around his waist. "DAMMIT KURO PUT SOME CLOTHES ON!" Kiyo scream at him.

"What's that?" Misaki asked.

"What?"

"On his back, some kind of markings?" she pointed out.

"Sorry but I don't want to ruin it when I do this." Kuro formed a seal of confrontation causing his black chakra to flare and the Celtic knots symbol to glow blue just before the familiar runic markings to appear on his body.

'_Another curse mark? Just how far is Orochimaru willing to go for power?_' Anko sneered at the thought of the rouge Senin.

Then Kuro's muscle mass to double. "You seem to be very fond of that gauntlet, so let's see how you fight," with a powerful jump foreword that busted a crater in the ground, Kuro seemed to just appear in front of Dosu and before said Oto-nin could react Kuro crouched down and slammed his left forearm into Dosu pinning him to the wall and grabbed a hold of Dosu's Melody arm, "Without it!" Kuro said as he pulled on the gauntlet and with a small amount of effort ripped it right off of Dosu's arm. Kuro then placed his hand on one of his shoulder blades activating a storage seal for one of his sword, he jumped back and with a single swing he utterly destroyed the Oto-nin's signature tool.

While in the air Kuro pulled out a chakra card and charged it with a large amount of his Tempest Chakra causing it to basically glow black. Then Kuro swung his sword downward spinning him around giving him enough momentum to cause his newest jutsu to be extra destructive, "Titan style: Piercing Tempest!" Kuro, using the momentum from swinging his sword threw his powered up chakra card at such a high speed Kakashi couldn't track it. The card sailed right into Dosu's arm destroying his shoulder then it continued on sailing through the walls of the building and a nearby tree causing the ANBU in it to fall down.

Only one phrase could be heard after the jutsu was heard. "SON OF A BITCH!"

Hayate coughed, "I'm stopping this match before it goes any further. The winner is Kurinto."

"Kami that throw hurt my arm," Kuro's arm that he used to throw his card hangs loose out of its socket, "Oh that's bad…" Kuro rejoined the group.

"Kiyo you know how fix that right?" Misaki asked Kiyo who was in trance-like state.

"Huh? Oh yeah….Kuro come here." Kiyo said.

"Nah I got this." Kuro promptly pops his shoulder back into place and rolls his shoulder. "There that's much better." Kuro said.

"Wow…just wow…really?" Kiyo deadpanned.

"What the hell man?" Kaido yelled.

"What?" Kuro asked having no clue what the issue was.

"You just popped your arm back in place. What the hell?" Kiyo retorted.

"Is there something wrong with that?" Kuro asked.

"You shouldn't do something like that on your own, you asshole. You could've fucked up your shoulder." Kiyo said.

"I've dislocated my arm before; I always just pop it back into place." Kuro said.

The next three fights took place. Naruto, Neji and Gaara were victors.

After the three, Kiyo was shaking with anticipation. Her vampiric instincts in full swing, it took all her will not attack anyone right then and there. "Kiyo are you ok?" Misaki asked but Kiyo didn't respond.

"Kiyo you there? Lights on and no one's home I guess." Kaido laughed.

Kiyo's hand goes to Kaido's throat. "What is wrong with you? He's your teammate!" Sakura yelled at her.

"Stop it you two." Kuro said pulling them apart.

Kaido rubbed his neck. "You got an iron grip there blood breath."

"Shut it ass wipe." She retorted. "I'm tired of your annoying-ass comments."

The screen read Kyoko Tsukizawa vs. Senku. "Will the two competitors please come down?" Hayate coughed.

Kiyo jumped off the railing and landed in the arena.

"Hopefully this will calm her down." Kuro said _'I guess that why her stepdad called her Kyo, I'll have to ask her about it later_.' he thought.


	26. The False Name

**KO 26: The False Name**

The screen read Kyoko Tsukizawa vs. Senku. "Will the two competitors please come down?" Hayate coughed.

"Hopefully this will calm her down." Kuro said. _'I guess that why her stepdad called her Kyo, I'll have to ask her about it later.'_ He thought.

"Give up now little Kiyo or Kyoko, whatever your name is you won't win." Senku smirked.

"It's not cool to talk about yourself that way." Kiyo chuckled.

Senku took his giant battle ax off his back and swung at Kiyo. She bent backwards, parallel to the ground, and then sprung back up before Senku could swing his weapon back. Kiyo punched him in the stomach, when the younger genin bent over in pain, she uppercut him and he fell back.

"I never realized a Tsukizawa would be here…" Kakashi said to himself.

"Wait a minute…I thought her name was Kiyo!" Naruto shouted.

"It is." Kira stated.

"Wait but the board said-"

"That's probably the name her 'family' gave her." Misaki cut Sakura off.

"Why would they make her do that?" she asked.

"She-…Something happened back when she lived in Suna and her family was ashamed of it. They gave her a different name- her mother's maiden name and a fake first name to go by when they moved to Kumo. "Oh and the majority of the women-including her mother- in her family have pink hair, so, if she gives you trouble try not to take it personally."

"Right…" Sakura turned her attention back to the match. _I wonder what happened…_

"Wait a minute…" Michiru said, "Weren't the Tsukizawa's a clan of scythe-wielders that gat eliminated by ninja in the 3rd Great War?"

"Yes…they were…" Kakashi confirmed. "Or so we thought…"

"You little bitch! You learned a few tricks…" Senku wiped a bit of blood from his lip as he grabbed his ax again and swung straight down at Kiyo.

"Kiyo!" Misaki yelled.

She summoned her scythe at the last second and blocked the axe with it. "You wanna know why a scythe is better than most other weapons?'

Senku grunted as he tried to break scythe. "Why?"

Kiyo smirked as she pushed her scythe up like a lever, sending Senku's ax flying. "Because you can attack at any angle," she stabbed him in the abdomen with the kunai end, "with ease."

A few moments pass and Hayate coughed once more. "Kiyo er…Kyoko is the winner of this match."

As the medical team retrieved the wounded boy, Kiyo jumped back up on the balcony. "Don't worry Misaki," her scythe disappeared, "I didn't hit a vital spot."

She hugged her. "I'm so glad you won~! Though…it's sad Senku-n lost…" Then Misaki shrugged, "Oh well, he had it coming to him." She giggled.

"Great job Kiyo, I bet he won't be talking down to you anymore." Kuro chuckled.

"He better not if he knows what's good for him." Kiyo said.

"It really should have been an in issue in the first place," Kuro sighed, "I still don't see the benefit of insulting your peers." Kuro stated loud enough for the other teams to hear. _The whole reason my family returned to Kumo was because how Naruto was treated. They even denied my parents' application to adopt him. At least Konoha doesn't try to steal bloodlines like Iwa did with the Hyuuga…_

Kaido saw Kuro starring into space, "Hey, earth to Kuro. You there man? The next fight is starting." Kaido said snapping his fingers to get his teammate's attention.

"Ya sorry about that." Kuro apologized.

"Michiru's goin' against that chubby kid-ttebanya…" Kiyo pointed out.

"Woohoo! You do it Michiru!" Misaki cheered.

Within three minutes of the match start, it ended with him winning against Chouji. And with the ending of the match the realization hit Kaido. "I'm next…Aw man 'm next and I have to fight a girl too…" he complained.

Kuro proceeded to get as much distance between him and Kaido, "You fucked up."

Before Kaido could respond, he was thrown into the arena by Kira, "You got a problem fighting a girl you little you bastard?"

Kakashi saw Kira angry and shuttered, "I wouldn't want to be in his shoes. Knowing Kira…he's going to catch hell for a punishment later…"

"Beat his lazy ass Misa-chan!" Kiyo cheered for her childhood friend.

Kuro decided to sit back and watch, knowing that picking a person to cheer for in this fight would be a bad idea.

"Begin." Hayate coughed.

Misaki shot fireballs at Kaido from her fists. Kaido seemed to disappear in a blur, only to reappear at the other side of the arena. He pulled out his kasuri gama. "I know if I hold back here I'll get my butt kicked later." Kaido sped towards Misaki. Once he was close, he let go of the weight, letting its momentum wrap the chain around Misaki.

Misaki knew she couldn't break the chain so she calmed down and slowly raised her body temperature, the chain getting looser in the process. Once it was loose enough she swung the chain around and hooked it around Kaido. Then she swung Kaido around and threw him, letting him hit the wall along with his broken weapon.

Kaido composed himself, regretfully dropping his kasuri gama and sped towards Misaki. He swiftly kicked her in the side. Keeping the momentum from his initial sprint, spun and sent a hand chop towards the side of her head.

Misaki grabbed his wrist and shot fire in his face, making a small tornado of fire. Kaido sped backwards, fire singeing his hair. After the fire dissipated, she made a few hand signs. Kaido, knowing the same plan won't work, sped around the arena positioning himself behind his opponent. He ran towards her back to attempt to end the match.

As Kaido was about to kick her again, he was tripped. He fell right into the wall and was knocked out. Misaki made a peace sign at Kiyo and her clone disappeared.


	27. Kiyo and Rosu

**KO 27: Kiyo and Rosu**

As Kuro walks toward the door, a familiar voice rang out, "Kurinto my boy, I need you to go to a hidden location so I can pull you into your mindscape and teach you how to properly fight as a Masato."

"I understand Katsuo-sama I'll-"

"Kurinto, you can be more familiar with me." Katsuo chuckles.

"Alright how about old man Katsuo?" Kuro says.

Katsuo's chuckle blooms into a full laugh. "That 'a boy Kuro, why go through life so stiff when you can relax?"

"Well I have an Idea where to go, that ramen stand the two running it seems nice enough." Kuro says.

"Alright when you're ready cut each hand with a different sword and spread blood on each sword and I can pull you in." Kuro walks off to the direction of Ichiraku Ramen to hide himself while he undergoes his training.

"KURO!" Kiyo exploded as she searched the village for him. _ He better not be off fooling around with that girlfriend of his._

"Kuri-kun where are you." Rosu called she couldn't understand why she couldn't find her boyfriend.

"Kuro!" Kiyo called before rounding a corner. Suddenly she found herself kissing Rosu. She pulled away immediately, blushing and her lips burned… "EW! Cooties~!" Kiyo half joked.

"What just happened?" Rosu asked.

"Well obviously we just had a les moment…" Kiyo retorted.

"A what?"

"A lesbian moment. You're, like, really innocent aren't you?"

"Huh?" Rosu's face just screamed innocence.

"Oh my Kami! Wow..." Kiyo laughed. "We just kissed, girls having any kind of intimate contact like that is called 'Yuri' or lesbian." She explained.

"I'm confused…Anyway, have you seen Kuro?"

"Uhhh…no…So you haven't either huh? I thought you guys would be hanging out together-ttebanya."

"Well I was gonna see if me and him could spend the day together." Rosu looked down and played with them hem of her dress.

"The third exams are in a month we need to train and I'm looking for him so we can train together…" Kiyo had a light blush to her cheeks.

"Maybe he went to go train on his own...?" Rosu guessed.

"Yea he probably did…I'm gonna go now…" Kiyo turned away.

"No~…don't leave me alone~!" Rosu says flailing her arms, "Can we hang out or something~?"

"Uhhh…like I said I need to train…"

"Pwease…" Rosu says giving innocent puppy dog like eyes.

Kiyo sighs, "Ok fine but you're buying me lunch."

"Kuro said I should use a tab linked to his account when I need food though." Rosu said.

"However you work it out, you're getting me free lunch."

"But-but…fine I guess Kuri-kun won't mind."

"Who the fuck is that?" Kiyo looks at Rosu confused.

"Kuri-kun is Kuro-kun."

"Oh…ok…So what now? I don't really know how this whole girly hanging out thing goes…" Kiyo stated.

"Well um let's go to Ichiraku then?" Rosu suggested.

"Ramen for breakfast?" Kiyo questioned.

"But it's afternoon, look." Rosu pointed to a clock.

"So it is…huh…I woke up early today…"

"What I wake up at 6 am every day."

"Ugh…no I cannot wake up that early…"

"Why not?"

"Cause I guess you could say I'm nocturnal."

"Like a bat?"

"Sure something like that…cept I don't eat bugs…" Kiyo sweatdropped.

Rosu chuckled at her comment as they approached the ramen stand.

"I swear I can just sense him…like he's…right under our noses." Kiyo said.

"I got that feeling too…like he's in the same room." Rosu said as Ayame approached the pair to get their orders.

"So…what would you too like today?" Ayame asked nervously.

"Oh…Can I have chicken? Hold the garlic please." Kiyo asked politely.

"I'll have a small order of vegetable ramen." Rosu asked quietly.

"Alright then." Ayame bows slightly and she and her father begin working on the orders. _Should I tell them that their friend is here?_

"So…uh…what do you like to do?" Kiyo asked Rosu, trying to not be awkward.

"Uhm…well I practice my crossbow shooting, healing jutsu…I read Kuro-kun's letters." She blushes as she says the last part. "Um…how has it, being on a team with Kuri-kun?"

"Ok I guess, the boys have actually become my best friends…" Kiyo blushed. "How did you two meet?"

"Mythril, which was owned by Kuro-kun's dad. Since the day was closed he took me with him." Rosu smiled, "Mr. Masato said his son was taking a break from learning the trade and that I should go play out back with him while he talks to my dad about the order. Kuri-kun and I had so much fun whenever my dad needed someone to watch me, he would take me over since he and Mr. Masato became fast friends as well. And Kuro's mom taught me how to cook, sew, and everything I was missing out on since my mom died during childbirth."

Rosu started blushing. "Kuro was so kind that I developed a crush on him. And one day he asked if he and I could be like how his parents are and we've been together ever since." She giggled. "But it was so sad when Kuri-kun wrote me about what happened to his family, I cried for days-that's why this crossbow means so much to me." Rosu pointed to the two proof marks on it, "Kuri-kun and his dad made it as a gift and his mother made me a locket with a picture of Kuri-kun and I as kids." Rosu pulled out the locket, held it to her chest and handed it to Kiyo, "Here Look."

"Wow…" Kiyo's heartbeat started to get faster when Rosu talked about Kuro's sad past. She gazed at the brunette's exposed neck and licked her lips.

Inside Kuro's mindscape, in a clearing between the rolling green hills and a clear spring, Kuro, clad in just shorts and soaked in sweat and water from the nearby spring, kept himself up by leaning on one of his swords. He was huffing and puffing from the training he had been through for what had seemed like days. Katsuo spoke up, completely unwinded, "Kuro my boy, your progress makes me proud to call you a Masato. Your ability to focus the tempest element is impressive and you're taking to the correct swordsmanship style like a fish to water. But now it's time to correct that dreadful taijutsu."

"You think…" Kuro huffed, "…we could," he wheezed, "take a," then coughed, "break?" he asked, feeling as though he was on his last leg.

"Nonsense! You haven't even used ye're marks yet. If you can flip me on my back, you can take a day's rest outside with a present." Katsuo said, then, jumping towards Kuro he yelled, "Don't lose y'er head my boy!"

_Shit!_ Kuro thought as he caught Katsuo's punch. In response to his weakened state the familiar runic markings flashed into existence, renewing and increasing his strength. He grabbed Katsuo's wrist, pulling him towards himself and sent a straight punch to his jaw, "Take that Old Man."

Katsuo chuckled, "That a' boy Kuro, but this Old Man is gonna kick ya ass thoroughly before ya flip him over." He promptly grabbed Kuro's arm and flipped him harshly on his back.

"Hey Kiyo, you alright?" Rosu asked.

Kiyo shook her head snapping out of her trance, "I guess I just zoned out for a second there."

"I have an idea; let's go to the hot springs." Rosu suggested.

"Alright but let's eat first-I'm starving!" Kiyo exclaimed as their food was served.

"Itadakimasu~!" the two said, digging in.

Kuro woke up in the back of Ichiraku, his body rapidly gained all of the experience, physical and mental he learned from the training. "Kami I'm glad he's letting me take a day for a break. I'm going to the hot springs before I find those three." After secretly thanking Teuchi, Kuro headed off to the hot springs. He fell asleep in the warm relaxing water with no one else there to disturb him.

Rosu and Kiyo arrived to at the hot spring to see a sign that said 'Mixed Bath Day'. "I'm not sure if it's ok to go in."

"Especially with all those old perverts around…" Kiyo added.

When a clerk heard her say this she spoke up, "Days like this are usually slow and no one was in there last time I checked." She flipped a page in her fashion magazine.

"Well I guess it's ok if no one's in there…" they walk into the women's changing room and as Kiyo finishes undressing, Rosu notices a tattoo of bat wings in between her shoulder blades and a heart-shaped one with squiggly lines on her lower back.

"Hey Kiyo, what's with those markings on your back? Are they tattoos?"

"Uhm…you could say they're part of my Kekkei Genkai." Kiyo said nervously.

"That's odd…Kuri-kun has a symbol in between his shoulder blades too."

"Really? Well I guess as his girlfriend you would know something like that." Kiyo slid open the door and saw a sleeping Kuro in the spring and well…saw everything. "K-K-K-KURO?" she blushed a red even darker than her own hair and froze.

Rosu flushed a deep red, "H-h-his towel must've fallen off when he fell asleep." she then pulled him up and nervously wrapped the towel around his waist. "K-Kiyo, are you ok?"

"WHAT THE FUCK? INCUBI AREN'T EVEN BUILT LIKE THAT!" Kiyo clung onto her towel.

"What do you mean…'built like'?" Rosu asked, confused.

"Right…I forgot…Even incubi dicks aren't that big!"

Rosu's blush went deeper, "A-All guys aren't like that?" she pointed to Kuro.

Kiyo stepped into the hot springs, sinking into its warmth, mumbling, "I give up!" into the water.


	28. In Fustration

**KO 28: In Frustration**

"Wait a minute…Rosu…have you…have you seen it before?" Kiyo yelled.

Rosu blushed a deep red, "Y-Yea, when Kuro and I…y-you know…"

"Wait you…and…Kuro…WHAT?" Kiyo yelled louder.

"W-w-we u-um…you know…slept together in the mature sense…" Rosu said, her voice growing softer and her face flushing darker with each word.

"I…I get that but…What the hell? You're only 14! Dattebanya!" Kiyo yelled loud enough to wake Kuro up.

"We're ninjas though, and Rosu and I have been together for eight years." Kuro said as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

"Oh…my…Kami…" Kiyo's face visibly twitched. "_I _still have my v-card! Do you know how embarrassing that is-ttebanya?" Kiyo stormed off, into the changing room.

"Kuri-kun what just happened with Kiyo?" Rosu asked.

"I can't really say. You'll have to ask Kiyo herself why this sucks for her." Kuro said, dropping Rosu a hint. "I gotta go sleep. I'm so tired from the training I've been through. Next time I take a break I'll take you on a date." Kuro got out of the water and Rosu softly, "I love you Rosu-chan." He then left through the men's side and head to the hotel.

Rosu smiled then followed Kiyo in the changing room, "Kiyo what's wrong?"

Kiyo zipped up her hoodie, "It's embarrassing for me to get beat by someone like _you_…"

After hearing this jab, Rosu looked like a kicked puppy, "What do you mean by that? I don't understand."

"It's nothing personal, it's just…" Kiyo trailed off.

"Kuro said to ask you why this situation 'sucked' because he wouldn't tell me why."

Kiyo twitched again, _Really Kuro? 'Sucked'?_ She mentally cursed him for the pun. "It's…I'm half succubus and….half vampire…" she whispered to Rosu, only trusting here since she was Kuro's girlfriend.

"Oh…but wouldn't this situation point towards the fact that, getting energy and your habits regarding relationships, you're more of a vampire than a succubus?" Rosu said with an expression that downplayed the information she just dropped.

"No…you're completely wrong…" Kiyo said bluntly. "Now I see why there was a war…Anyway, you humans have been mixing up vampires and succubae for centuries. I'm not surprised that you did mix them up. No…the behavior I'm exerting now specifically in this is related to my succubism. But…you are right about one thing…" Kiyo paused, "I do usually act more like a vampire…"

"Ohhh…well still, it shouldn't be bad if you haven't done it yet just because Kuro and I have…y-you know…" Rosu said ending with a blush.

"That…that doesn't change the fact that it's embarrassing!"

"Why is it embarrassing though?" Rosu asked.

"Cause…it just is." Kiyo pouted.

"B-but I don't understand." Rosu cried anime tears.

"Ah…wait don't cry…" Kiyo started to spazz. "It freaks me out when people cry! Dattebanya!"

"S-sorry…" Rosu grabbed a tissue and quietly blew her nose.

"It's fine…just don't cry ok?"

"O-ok…you're not mad anymore?"

"Frustrated is a better word and no..." Kiyo smiled a bit.

"So why is it frustrating?"

"It…it just is…can we drop this-ttebanya?"

"So what are we going to do next then?"

"We could…go to a dango shop." Kiyo suggested.

"That's a great idea!" Rosu flashed a bright smile as she hugged Kiyo, "Dango is delicious!"

Rosu got dressed and they leave for the closest dang shop they can find. On their way they run into Ino. "Ro-chan!" she hugs the brunette.

"Hey Ino-chan," Rosu returns the hug. "How are you today?"

"Great! My dad let me have the day off from watching the flower shop!" Ino giggled. "What about you?"

"Kuri-kun is busy training so Kiyo-chan and I are heading to the dango shop." Rosu smiled softly.

"Kiyo?"

The redhead waved at her shyly, "Hi," she took a half step behind Rosu.

"Hey…" An awkward silence fell between the three.

"So how are Chouji and Shikamaru doing?" Rosu said, trying to get the conversation going.

"They're okay. Chouji's in the hospital cause he ate too much food and Shikamaru's wasting time _not_ getting ready for the finals! Sometimes, boys can be so frustrating!" Ino exclaimed.

"Ugh, I know what you mean! Kaido's an ass 90% of the time and Kuro…he…he's always beating me at everything and he doesn't listen to me…Why is it so hard to make him notice me?" Kiyo kicked a rock in frustration and it hit an unsuspecting jounin.

"Well, Kuri-kun is laid back. I'm sure he values you as a teammate, he just likes to be a protector." Rosu giggled, "I'm glad he's like that since that's why I love him."

"Aw~! You're so lucky to have such a wonderful boyfriend!" Ino gushed.

"Yea…" Kiyo looked off to the side, "but…if he's best at everything then…what am I good for?"

"Well…you never know, you'll find out sooner or later." Rosu said, trying to help her red-headed friend.

Kiyo smiled a little, "I hope so."

"Kiyo you were unbelievable in the Forest of Death! How could you think you're not good enough?" Ino pointed out.

"By the way, Kuri-kun won't talk about the Forest of Death. I wish he would, I wanna know what happened." Rosu said with a curious expression.

The three arrived at the shop and ordered. Kiyo, having an especially large pile, explained everything that happened. "You two are so close…why didn't he tell you?" Kiyo thought out loud as she and Ino cringed at the memory.

"I guess he just doesn't want me to worry about Shiro. I know Kuri-kin can beat him but he must be worried about losing himself though, and he's trying to shoulder it by himself…" Rosu said sadly.

After leaving the hot springs, Kuro headed towards the ever familiar ramen stand. Then, after a quick meal, he walked back to his hidden location in the back. Upon re-entering his mindscape, Kuro's palm got to meet his face when he saw Katsuo passed out in the middle of a meadow with the strong smell of alcohol on him. "I didn't even know you could get dru-…never mind. I guess I'll do some exploring of my own mind till Old Man Katsuo gets his ass up." Kuro walked a good distance across green fields, babbling brooks, and rolling hills of emerald grass.

He kept on till he ran into a sight that caused a far amount of amusement. His alter self, Shiro, clad in a red and white version of Kuro's outfit stuck behind bars. Before Kuro could speak up, Shiro 'greeted' him. "Greetings o' great and mighty goodie two shoes. What brings you to my humble… 'Abode'? Ready to just hand me control since I'll just kick y'er ass later for it?"

Kuro chuckled at his reverse self's attempts to get a rise out of him. "I'm sorry to remind ya murderous leech that ya can't gain ant experience from me. So all I have to do, really, is pass ya current level and I can be rid o' ya."

Shiro responded with a laugh that turned into an insane cackle. "In y'er dream! Once I beat ya I'll kill that brown-0haired girl ya enjoy to stick ya rod into so much. Then I'll take that feisty little vampire on ya team for myself. I enjoy my women to have claws cause they always scream the loudest in the end." He smirked as he chuckled evilly.

"All words from a dog on a chain. After training with Katsuo, to me, ya'r all bark an' no bite. In fact…let's shrink that chain." Kuro snapped his fingers and shrunk Shiro's cage to only a big larger than him.

"Fuck yea!" Shiro snarled, pissed at Kuro.

"Didn't know ya swung that way…Ya really _are_ my opposite." Kuro walked away with a smirk, knowing that Shiro was becoming less of an issue.

Back at the dango shop, as Kiyo was finishing her 10th and final stick, a chill went down her spine. "Nya!" she yelled. _What's with this horrible feeling?_ She cried in her head.


	29. A Kuro of a Different Kind

**KO 29: A Kuro of a Different Kind**

_**A/N: Sorry for the majorly late update but I'm in college now, so anyway here's an extra long chappie for the wait and a mini chap in 1st **__**person shall be up soon!**_

Kiyo hugged her human lover closer. "That…was…incredible…" he breathed as he rubbed her back lovingly.

"Yeah…" she panted.

"It didn't hurt did it? Cause I heard that it hurts for the girl the first time." He looked in her eyes.

"No…" she smiled, "It didn't hurt at all."

"I wasn't too rough?"

"No Kankurou." Kiyo kissed him. "I'm fine and I won't get pregnant, my succubism will prevent that."

"Really? Well that's convenient." He laughed.

"Kinda has to be…I mean I _am_ part se-" Kiyo stopped mid-word as she sat up.

"What's wrong?"

"Quiet…" she heard a 'shh-ing' sound outside the hotel door. _It can't be…how could he have followed us this far outside Konoha?_

The door was opened violently by sand, and then Gaara walked in. Kiyo quickly covered her chest with the sheets. "Kankurou…stop fooling around with this _whore_, you'll both blow the mission." He glared at Kiyo.

She glared back. "It's midnight, normal humans sleep at this time…"

"You aren't human." His glare intensified.

"No shit…I was talking about Kankurou."

Gaara's sand started wrapping itself around Kiyo, "I should kill you…"

"But you know you can't, so why bother wasting the chakura?" She calmly sat there as the sand encased her.

"Don't mock me!" Gaara moved his hand to do his infamous Sand Burial, but was stopped by an invisible force holding his entire body perfectly still.

Confused, Gaara glanced at his brother who sat that like a frightened child. Then he saw that Kiyo had her hand up. "You really shouldn't mess with a _demon_ on the night of a full moon," Kiyo chuckled, "unless…you wanna die!" her hand slowly closed as Gaara felt like his heart was being squeezed. She stood, he saw her silhouette in the moonlight then…her eyes glowed red. Suddenly, she grabbed her head as she struggled to keep her hold on Gaara. The pain got to be too much for her and let go of the jinchuuriki. Shocked, Gaara silently walked out of the hotel room and back to Konoha.

Kankurou picked Kiyo up and laid her back in the bed. He decided to take her to her teammates when he woke up. He lay next to his girlfriend, brushing the hair from her face as she fell asleep. When the time came to take Kiyo back, Kankurou got dressed and dressed her. Then, he carried her, as if she were made of porcelain, back to her team's hotel in Konoha. He smiled, _She looks so peaceful like that…_Kiyo had a light blush on her cheeks and a small smile on her lips. He knocked on the door and handed her to the darker Kumo-nin.

"Hey wait-who're you?" he asked.

"You're her friend right? Take care of her for me will you?" Kankurou turned and left.

Kaido looked at her for a second, he'd never seen her so serene, _She almost looks like a girl. _He chuckled to himself and noted at how light she was.

Kiyo's eyes opened slightly, "Oh…Kaido…" he set her down on a futon. "Kankurou brought me back?" she yawned.

"If you mean that wannabe cat with the make-up, then yes." Kaido resumed eating the instant ramen he was working on before the Suna-nin brought Kiyo back.

"It's not make-up, it's war paint."

"You admit he wants to be a cat?"

"…Yes. Kami that smells good~." she crawled over to where sat.

"Get your own ramen!" he raised it above his head, away from her.

"You'd let your own teammate starve~?"

"Yes! Now go away and lemme eat in peace!"

"That's no fun!"

"Who care?! Go find your own breakfast!"

"Hmph!" Kiyo pouted and turned on the TV.

"Are you really just gonna starve yourself? That's not cool, man. I hate it when girls do that." Kaido said as he threw the ramen cup away. "I'm headed out."

Kiyo shut the door just as he was opening it. Confused, Kaido turned and suddenly she was only centimeters from his face. She chuckled and smirked, "I found breakfast~."

"W-wait didn't you throw up last time you had my blood?" he tried convincing her to not bite him.

"Who said anything about blood? Remember~ I'm succubus too." She kissed him. The longer the kiss got the weaker Kaido felt until eventually his knees gave out and they wound up on the floor. "That's weird…"

Kaido twitched, "What?! The fact you just kissed me for no reason!?"

"No…well…for you maybe but…your chakra…it…it tastes like chicken." Kiyo stated, licking her lips. The two glance at each other and burst into laughter. "Sorry for suddenly doing that…I needed chakra."

"So….you kissed me…" Kaido deadpanned.

"Yeah, well lemme explain…In the same way vampires are naturally anemic, succubae and incubi are naturally low on chakra and need to feed off of humans since well, you all have enough to go around."

"So you guys crave sex and chakra, that's not cool man…"

"_Baka!" _Kiyo blushed._ "_It's just chakra…any kind of intimate interaction like a hug or kiss that's what draws out the chakra for us to feed on. And the sex thing….that's easiest and most efficient way to 'steal' chakra from someone without them noticing. _That's_ why we're known as sex demons."

The news came on the TV, grabbing the teammates' attention. A professional looking woman with brown hair and eyes spoke, "I'm Asuka Yastuhosi and this is Konoha Midday News. In our top story this afternoon, nine young genin from Amegakure were included in this season's Chuunin exams casualties. The strange part; doctors examining the body say two of genin were drained of both chakra and blood, a phenomenon so bizarre, even to the world of ninja, doctors and medical analysts are stumped as to how, who or even what could make this happen."

Kuro continued his trek through his own mindscape stopping at a large cave, "I wonder what's in here…" Kuro walked into the dark cave with his hand on the wall to guide him along. After what seemed like forever Kuro stopped when he saw a lone light in a bottle that had a book at the bottom with a seal on it. "What in the world?" Kuro walked toward the bottle and put his hand on it. It was warm to the touch; after he touched the bottle the seal began to fade away and light began enveloping the cavern.

"Heir of my line heed my warning," a booming voice spoke, "Your opponent in the exams…his mind will be poisoned by the snake that seeks to crush his nest." Kuro was dumbfounded, what was this voice that was giving him this warning…

"Who are you?" Kuro asked the voice.

"Who I am is not of consequence. What is important is that you ask Katsuo to instruct you according to the book that was in the jar that held my being. He will know after reading the book what you must learn..." The light dimmed and the voice faded away.

"Well if the voice is right, the Old Man needs to see this." Kuro approached the book and scanned over its cover, it was a blue book with gold bindings and an image identical to his birth mark. When he grabbed the book, the detailing in the book light up for a brief second then dimmed away. "Looks like I have found something pretty interesting…" Kuro took off in the direction to where Katsuo was napping.

"Ugh! There is absolutely nothing to do in this village!" Kiyo shouts to the sky. She had left Kaido to be a vegetable back in the hotel room. After she got away from people staring at her awkwardly after the outburst, she spotted a familiar violet-haired jounin. "Kira-sensei!"

"Kiyo? What're you doing, you should be off training." She stated bluntly.

"Yeah, well, looks who's talking! _You're_ my sensei, so teach me stuff!" Kiyo demanded.

"I'm busy…"

"Doing what?"

"I'm playing 'Hide the Icha-Icha Paradise'." Kira smiled as she uncharacteristically blushed.

"Aren't those the books that-"

"Kakashi-kun reads. He never goes anywhere without one, but I was able to get from him. That mother fucker won't have a clue where to look." She smirked.

"Why not just give it to me? Kakashi-san will never suspect a _girl_ to be carrying one of _those_ books."

"Hm. You have a point…" Kira hands Kiyo the orange book. "Well then for helping me with that, I shall train you."

"Really~? Yay, finally more training!" she glomped the older kunoichi.

Kira pushed the redhead off her, "Just because you're my goddaughter doesn't mean you can do that…"

"Alright…" Kiyo pouted. The two walk off into the forest beside the village, trying to find a pond or lake so Kiyo could work on her water style. They come across a stream and follow it to a moderately sized waterfall with a large pond at the bottom. Kiyo backs up from the edge of the cliff.

"If you really wanna train you're gonna have to jump." Kira orders.

"No way in hell!" Kiyo makes an 'x' with her arms.

"Alright then…I'll just have to throw you." She smirked.

"Huh?" Kira chucks Kiyo off the cliff. "AHHH!" Kiyo start using her water style to pull the water up to catch her and she lands softly in the pond below. "Dammit Kira-sensei! You know I'm afraid of heights!"

Kira gracefully jumped down, landing on top of the water. "Which is why I threw you." She chuckled. "You're first lesson is what I'm doing right now."

"Walking on water? I-I'm so bad with chakra control…I-I don't know if I can do it…" Kiyo stood, up to her knees in the water.

"That's your issue Kiyo, you doubt yourself before you even try." Kira walked towards shore and Kiyo followed. "This is one of the basic techniques of a ninja and once you get used to it, you don't even think about it- it just comes naturally." She put her hand on her shoulder.

"Al-alright…" Kiyo pulled her hair back into a bun and took off her glasses, and wet jacket, pants, and shoes. _I hope no else sees me like this…Good thing I always wear shorts underneath…_

"Focus your chakra to your feet, like when we doing the tree-climbing exercise."

Kiyo nodded and did so, falling in the water only a few steps in. "Look…I really think it's not gonna work…"

"Try visualizing yourself walking on water then try it again." Kira instructed.

Kiyo got out of the water and closed her eyes, imagining herself walking on water like it was nothing. Without realizing it, she had started to walk towards and onto water without any trouble. It was only when she fell through some bushes that she realized what she did. She turned to Kira, "Woo-hoo~! Kira-sensei I did it, I did it!" she jumped and cheered.

"Wow…I can't believe a little runt like you would pick up something so fast." Kira stated, _Except it's her ability to learn quickly that's got her this far…Three years ago she didn't even know the difference between a kunai and a shuriken…And now she's walking on water after only a few minutes of training…_

"Well hello there little lady." A man said to Kiyo. As an instinct reaction, she kicked the old man as she turned to him.

"Ha-ha! Serves you right Pervy Sage-ttebayo!" Naruto pointed and laughed at the white haired man.

"N-Naruto?!" Kiyo blushed.

"Huh? Have we….met before?" Naruto asked her confused.

"Naruto…it's me Kiyo…I mean I know we haven't known each other for very long but you should still remember me! Dattebanya~!" Kiyo puffed her cheeks at him.

"Whoa really?! I didn't even recognize you! You actually look like a girl-ttebayo!"

Kiyo blushed once more, "It only makes sense since I _am_ one!"

"You really are an idiot aren't you Naruto?" the old man retorted.

Kiyo turned to him, "You…" she gasped, "Uncle Jiraiya~!" she glomped him.

He laughed, "Long time no see my little _Zeribinzu._" He petted her head.

"Huh?! You guys are related?!" Naruto screamed.

"No, he's my dad's best friend, that's all." Kiyo said as Jiraiya put her down. "So are you training too, Naruto-chan?"

"Yea, Pervy Sage said he's gonna teach me the Summoning Jutsu…" the said ninja had disappeared.

"Uncle~!" Kiyo called him but it fell on deaf ears as the Sanin started talking to Kira. "Ah…whatever, I wanna take a break from training…Wanna talk?" she asked Naruto as she sat on the ground.

He sat next to her. "Sure." He smiled and put his jacket on her.

"Thanks…" she blushed. "So…does your team….get along?"

Naruto looked at the stream in front of them and seemed to contemplate the question. "Well…I guess we kind of get along but we also…don't," he rubbed the back of his head and chuckled, "Ah…I'm not making any sense right now, am I-ttebayo?"

"No I completely understand what you mean…" Kiyo started; "We can work well together but…Kuro's always stealing the spotlight before I even have a chance to do anything!" she looked at the ground.

"I know what you mean! Sasuke's the same way!" As soon as Naruto shouted that, Kiyo felt that familiar heartbeat resonate throughout her body. As Naruto went into a rant about Sasuke the heartbeat got faster until Kiyo couldn't take it anymore. She jumped Naruto and straddled his waist, breathing heavily. "Kiyo what're you doin?!"

She didn't answer. She looked at him with cloudy eyes; staring at his neck she licked her lips. Her fangs extended as she leaned down to bite him. She closed her eye and as she was about to bite him, Jiraiya plucked her off of him. "Kiyo-chan~ no biting my student." He said, holding her to his level by her shirt.

"B-b-but I'm hungry~!" She whined. He whispered something in her ear. "O-Oh…never mind then…" she sweatdropped. _'The seal used on him must be powerful because I don't even sense Kurama-Sama…'_


	30. Sand, Sound, and Death

**KO 30: Sand, Sound, and Death**

_**A/N: Because this is a mini-chap it will be in 1**__**st**__** person, next chapter will resume the 3**__**rd**__** POV. Try an guess who the mystery person is and if you get it right your OC will apear in a chapter of KO Trio~!**_

I swiftly arrive at the rendezvous point for my mission briefing. Baki and Kabuto are already talking over the plan. "So you've finally arrived." The older traitorous teen greets me, "I assume this is the…_other_ secret weapon you were talking about? Honestly I would've never imagined someone like _you_ could ever be in on this."

"I tend to be misjudged."

Kabuto hands me a scroll, "Baki has the same one, but it will cause trouble if they see you with him. I suggest you burn it after reading, it's the details on our plan to destroy Konoha."

Baki speaks up, "It's a plan originally proposed by Oto so if there's any chance of failure we're pulling out immediately." He pauses. "Suna won't attack until the last possible moment. This is the will of the Kazekage. That mean you pull out too." He looks at me.

"I know, I'm not dumb. The only reason I'm doing this is to bring honor back to my family in Suna."

Kabuto smirks, "Why don't you start with taking care of our little spy then?"

I chuckle, "Just one though…and by the smell of his chakra it'll be like taking candy from a baby." The Konoha ninja leaps away and I go after him, the chase only lasts 10 seconds as I gain speed and jump in front of him, blocking his path. "So it's Hayate the Proctor huh? Aren't you a little too sick to be spying? Especially when you're all by yourself…"

"It seems I have no choice but to fight." He pulls out his katana and rushes at me, "Konoha style: Crescent Moon Dance!" Two clones go to the left and right, I sense the real one and look up as he comes from in front of the full moon, he yells as swings his sword into my shoulder. Some of my blood splatters on his face as he tries to pull it out.

I grab it and smirk as I chuckle, "That hurt y'know….You're gonna havta pay for that y'know…" I break the blade and throw the piece lodged in me off the roof we're standing on. I make my hand as sharp as an arrow and impale him. He coughs blood as I whisper to him, "You're talent with a sword is impressive, it's a shame you're gonna die though….just be glad that I was the one to kill you and not that awful disease that would've killed you slowly." I remove my arm from his body and he falls, ironically on the symbol for ninja. I take out a kunai stab his heart, ending it quickly. I meet back with Baki and Kabuto.

"Looks like you had fun, though you seem taller than when I _first_ met you." Kabuto says.

I lick some blood off my hand, "It's transformation, I changed my gender and height in case anyone that knows me as a friend were to spot us talking."

"That's why voice sounds different from just a couple of weeks ago…." Baki thought out loud.

"Yea, well I better get to the hot springs and clean up before I see my team again…And get some ibuprofen my shoulder is killing me!" I rub my now-healed joint. "Anyway…Ja ne."


	31. Kuro vs Michiru

**KO 30: Kuro vs. Michiru**

Kuro woke up in the ramen shop, "Well looks like I have about an hour to get there...fuck." he rushed off toward the arena.

"So you _are_ alive?" Kaido greeted him in front of the stadium. Kiyo glanced at him and nodded a hello but didn't say anything. She more emo than usual, as Kaido had put it earlier.

"Ya but I feel like I got smashed around for by a crazy uncle." Kuro sighed. "**Ah come on lad don't turn to a whiner on me.**" He ignored Katsuo; the Old Man would probably be drunk soon anyways.

"You too huh?" Kiyo asked. "My uncle tossed me down a giant hole and I had to cling on the back of a giant toad all day with Naruto so I wouldn't get lost…Kami that was brutal…"

Kuro's eye twitched "...I think I would have preferred that."

"Not unless you have motion sickness…"

"Nope, still would have preferred that over what I went through." Kuro put rubbed his back.

"Kiyo-nee-sama~!" Misaki called before glomping the redhead. "I'm so excited~!"

"Nice to see _someone's_ happy about this whole thing." Kiyo laughed wearily.

"Something wrong Nee-sama?"

Kiyo forced a smile and patted the younger kunoichi's head. "Not really I'm just a little nervous is all…"

"Let's just hope I don't dislocate my arm again." Kuro chuckled.

"But it would be funny if you still did." Kaido joked.

"Meh, I'd just pop it back into place." Kuro shrugged.

Kiyo popped her neck on both sides loudly after Kuro said that. "Jeez Nee-sama…" Misaki laughed, "stressed much?" then she noticed a bruise on her neck. "N-nee-sama! I-I think you broke something!" she freaked out and pointed at it.

"What? Oh no this is…" Kiyo blushed, "It-it-it-it's nothing really…" she rubbed it. _Why the hell would something like that last this long?_

Kuro had pulled out his book and was reading it to pass the time. Before they knew it, Kaido had to join the crowds watching the matches and Kiyo, Kuro, Misaki, and the rest of the contenders were lined up in the arena. _'My fight is so gonna suck, since the whole mind poisoning of my opponent… _Kuro thought.

As Kiyo was standing there she scanned the crowds for someone but gave up realizing there were too many people too far away for her to be able to recognize a single face. The Hokage gave a small speech before letting the final exam start. Genma explains the rules and announces the first math is between Naruto and a Neji Hyuuga. The rest of the candidates walk up to the waiting area.

"I bet 280 ryo Arrogant Ass Hat loses to my fellow blonde." Kuro piped up, closing his book.

"Only 280? I bet _**800**_ that he'd win over Trannie." Kiyo said as she leaned on the railing.

"Deal." Kuro put his book away and laced his hands together behind his neck.

After a long drawn out battle with back stories and uppercuts, Naruto turned out to be the winner. Kiyo smiled, "I expect nothing less from an Uzumaki."

"Well looks like Arrogant Ass Hat is gonna get stomped."

"Dude…he got _crushed_." Kiyo noted and high-fived Naruto when he got back. "You're not too shabby whiskers."

"Thanks, hey wait what do you mean whiskers?" Naruto questioned. Kiyo made a gesture, drawing three lines on her face on both sides with her fingers.

"Bad ass'ry is directly linked to the relationship between how blonde your hair is and how spiky your hair is, it's just facts." Kuro nodded.

Kiyo punched him in the arm. "And being supernatural isn't?"

"Nope, because I am completely human, besides you still have spiky hair…somewhat."

Kiyo blushed a little, "Actually its naturally curly…I straighten every day it's easier to deal with…" Kiyo went in an emo corner. "Besides I'm starting doubt the fact you're human…."

"Now why ever would you say that?"

"Just a hunch…." As Kiyo says that, Genma announces the postponement of Sasuke's match. "Jeez…just cause it's an Uchiha...they're postponing it?" She glances over at her kohai, _Course…we wouldn't want to make __**him**__ mad now, huh? _The next match was Kankurou and Shino Aburame, but the Suna-nin forfeited before they could even leave the waiting area. Then Shikamaru versus Temari, Kiyo faithfully cheered on her blonde sempai till the end. Then came time for Kuro's match, "Good luck Kuro."

"Thanks Kiyo." Kuro jumped down to the arena.

Michiru simply walked down the stairs and out into it as if he had all the time in the world. He had a menacing look on his face like he really wanted to kill somebody, unlike the normal cheerful Michiru.

_'So this is the comrade poisoned by the snake?'_ Kuro asked expecting an answer from Katsuo, but instead the mysterious voice answered.

_**'Yes young one, weaken him and use the skill Katsuo and I have taught you to free him from the serpent's grasp'.**_ Kuro drew his swords and got in his ready stance, with one sword held out and the other on held sideways in an overhead block.

"I'll cut you into pieces!" Michiru laughed as his nails grew like talons.

'_Something's gone wrong with him…Michi-nii would never risk his identity like that…'_ Kiyo thought. She turned and started walking away.

"Kiyo-nee, where are you going?" Misaki asked.

"Oh…j-just the bathroom." She said nervously and sped walked away from the other contestants. '_It's almost time for _that_…'_

Kuro chuckled, "Bring it on." he was not surprised by the change in his demeanor.

Michiru smirked, "You got it," he rushed at the blonde. Making his hand like a dagger he aimed at his chest for a strike.

Kuro spun to the side and cocked his wrist, sending the pommel of the outstretched sword upwards at Michiru's stomach.

"Whoa that blonde guy is really good." A girl with her hair in two buns says.

"Yeah that's Kuro, basically the team's one man army. It's funny 'cause it pisses off our other teammate." Kaido chuckled.

"He sounds like he's got quite a temper, huh?" she laughed.

"Nah he's pretty level head like abnormally so."

"But you just said he gets pissed off."

"Oh you mean Kiyo get's pissed off, yeah hot headed fits her pretty well."

"You didn't say she was a girl." Then she laughed, "Kinda sounds like my teammate, Lee."

"And let me guess you're the normal one between a hard worker and an overzealous person." Kaido guessed.

"How'd you know? Are you a mind reader?"

"Nope, in your position." He chuckled.

"Is that so?" she giggled.

"Mhmm, anyways Kuro will win just watch." Their attention turned back to the match.

The hit caused Michiru to stumble back; he flipped back recovering from it. Quickly, he took out multiple kunai and did a few hand signs, "Wind style: Kunai Tornado!" the kunai headed at Kuro from all directions.

Kuro pulled out chakra cards, threw them up, and then held out his hand, "Chakra string dome!" A black string of chakra ran from his hand to the nearest card, connecting them into a protective dome blocking the kunai from above and behind him, Kuro then blocked the rest of the kunai with his over head sword. He sprinted foreword with his sword held in a cross guard.

Michiru ran straight at him but then jumped over him and landed on the top of the arena wall. Kuro smirked and sheaved the sword in his right hand. He focused his chakra to his left hand and threw his sword up high with a chakra string attached to the bottom. Right when it got near Michiru he pulled down the string in his hand with great force sending the skyward sword down at his opponent.

It got him in the stomach and he came falling into the ground. When the dust cleared from the impact he pulled the sword out and threw it back at Kuro. He was bleed profusely and it seemed like he wasn't going to make it. But then the bleeding stopped suddenly and he ripped off the bloodstained hoodie revealing the healed wound.

"Well looks like I was right to assume you could heal yourself." Kuro said as he caught the sword and spun it back into a proper grip with ease.

Kaido was munching on popcorn. "This fight is already good."

"So is the popcorn." the brunette from before stole some.

"Hey that's mine." Kaido whined.

"You shouldn't be complaining. If you're a good enough ninja, you would've stopped me." She teased.

Michiru dashed at Kuro, growing his nails again and aiming for open spots, he eventually was able to scratch Kuro's upper arm. Kuro smirked as he bashed Michiru in the side of the head with his free right hand.

"Damn, taking one of Kuro's punches to the head gotta hurt." Kaido winced.

"How strong is he?"

"Too strong, a Hyuuga palm would feel like a tickle to him and a full force punch by him can take out and unprepared ninja." Kaido chuckled.

"Jeez just what is he?!"

"He is the last of the Masato clan, and a damn hard worker." Kaido leaned back, "Unlike me he isn't a fan of lazing around and stuff."

"'And stuff?'"

"Sleeping in, he wakes up no later than 6 am every day."

"I don't think Neji could even do that."

"Looks like we don't have to worry about being late." a familiar voice said from behind Kaido.

"Good, it looks like Kurinto's winning. I want to fight him later." Sasuke said coming from behind him.

"I don't think that will end well." Kaido chuckled.

"Let's just watch the fight, if you two start arguing we're going to miss something." Kakashi said looking at the fight, "Cause this fight is far from over."

Michiru glared at Kuro and the wind picked up, _inside the arena._ The dust swirled around and no one could see anything. A red light glowed and then the wind and dust settled. When it cleared Michiru had dark green horns, tail, and a set of bat-like wings.

"So time to get serious?" Kuro placed his thumb at the top of his vest letting it fall over his belt and hang down over his legs, then he flared his chakra brining his blue marks to life and increasing his muscle mass. He drew his other sword and got into his starting stance again.

'_Damn it Michiru! You retard!'_ Kiyo slammed her fist. '_Why would he do that in front of all these people?!'_ Then she noticed a strange mark peeking out from beneath his hair.

He shot up in the sky and did some more hand signs, "Wind style…" came out in a demonic voice, "Tornado devastation!" a tornado came out of nowhere heading for Kuro.

Kuro smirked and held out his swords in a cross guard. When the jutsu made contact with the sword the wind chakra was sucked out of the jutsu and charge the swords a quarter of the way to a full charge. "Thanks for the chakra, Mich."

Without the chakra behind it, the jutsu simplified to just puff of wind and dissipated. Kuro charged his chakra into his hands and threw both his swords and formed two strings and repeated his move from earlier in an attempt to ground Michiru.

This time he dodged the attack and caught both swords with his tail and absorbed the chakra from the chakra strings. Then he dove at Kuro, and putting his hand on his head, put him in a genjutsu.

"Fuck..." Without his sword Kuro succumbed to the genjutsu, but instead of being pulled into an altered reality he found himself in the cave where he found the voice.

**It's seems your poisoned comrade has gotten the upper hand young one**. The always mysterious voices spoke out.

"Oh fuck, Kuro lost his swords." Kaido was now on the edge of his seat. "I can't believe someone got the upper hand on Kuro."

"You mean he's vulnerable to genjutsu?"

"Not usually but obviously if he doesn't have his swords that changes."

Sasuke chuckled, "Thanks for the info."

"Hah doubt he'll ever make that mistake again Duck Ass."

"What the hell?! I don't have a tail!"

Kaido just suck his tongue out.

Michiru dropped the blonde's swords, sure that he was trapped by the jutsu. He pulled his hand back and pointed it like a dagger and went in for the strike.

"I fucked up and know I can't move, wait how am I talking to you and not in some kinda fucked up reality?"

"**Because I want to test your resolve, are you going to give up?"**

"No I won't."

"**Are you going to let Michiru's mind be poisoned by the serpent?"**

"No I will not allow a comrade to suffer!"

"**ARE YOU GOING TO LET YOURSELF DIE HERE!"**

"KURO!" Kiyo screamed, echoing in the stadium and parts of the village.

Kuro's body started to move and his chakra began to flare once again and he yelled, "NO I WONT!" As he broke the genjutsu his marks flared from blue to gold, he grew a head taller, his hair lengthened to his shoulder, and his muscle mass increased even more. Kuro held his hand out with his palm held upwards and his fingers tensed.

"What the fuck just happened?" Kiyo said, staring wide-eyed at him.

Michiru flew back and stay in a defensive stance while in mid-air.

When he opened his eyes they where inverted with the sclera being blue and the iris being white. "Are you ready to end this Michiru?"

He frowned, "I've been waiting."

'_He really isn't human is he? But I don't…..i don't sense any kind of demon within him…'_ Kiyo thought, _'Just what the hell is he?!'_

"I call upon the power of light to end all plague and to cure all sickness." In Kuro's hand, golden light exploded out blinding the area for a minute, and when it cleared Kuro was holding a body sized Crucifix in his hand that was made up of the same light. "Light's blessing!" Kuro jump foreword at a high speed and slammed the cross into Michiru. As the calming light entered his system the tag that was influencing his behavior fell off and sent him skidding across the arena.

Genma waits a moment before calling, "The winner is Kurinto Masato!" Everyone cheers for him.


	32. It Begins

**KO 31: It Begins**

"**You did great young one."**

Kuro approached Michiru and hoisted over his shoulder. "Michiru was not acting himself for a reason." Kuro's voice said in a booming voice far more authoritative than normal as he put his swords into the seal on his back and picked up the tag that had come out of Michiru's head and handed it to Genma. "This tag infected his mind turning him into an angry man who wants nothing more than murder." Kuro walked to the exit. "I would like to take my comrade to the infirmary myself if that is ok proctor."

"Down the hall, to the right." He said smiling.

"Thank you." Kuro carried the unconscious Michiru to the clinic.

"Well looks like Kuro can break advance genjutsu without his swords." Kaido stuck his tongue out at Sasuke.

"We'll just see about that!" He shook his fist at him as he disappeared and reappeared into the arena.

"Sasuke!" Naruto, Sakura, and a few other genin yelled in cheer as they saw him.

"Glad to see you've finally arrived." Genma said. "Will the contestant please come out into the arena?" Gaara took his sweet time walking out to meet Sasuke, "Ok here we are at last."

A man in an ANBU mask and robe approached Kiyo, "In five minutes…" he whispered.

"Got it," she nodded and went into the stands. She listened as everyone was cheering and saying how awesome the last match was and how just as great or even better this one will be.

"Wow! That Masato guy was really cool!" one guy said to his friends, "Especially that part of the end…amazing!"

"He's really dreamy too~." The girl sitting next to him said.

"Uhhh…Aiko? Do I have to remind you?" he laughed nervously.

Kiyo laughed at the fact that Kuro had unknowingly made _another_ girl fall in love with him. "He's from Kumo right? He'll definitely be Raikage one day!" another person laughed. Kiyo went to the top of the stands, in the far right corner and whispered something in someone's ear. She smiled as they slumped over and began to snore.

The fight between Sasuke and Gaara began. After five minutes it escalated into Sasuke using a Lightning style jutsu called, "Chidori!" he forced it into the sand dome Gaara had put himself in. the redhead screamed in agony.

'_That's…impossible…no human has ever…I mean __**I'm**__ the only one that's ever penetrated his sand and…and __**hurt**__ him.'_ Kiyo thought, '_Oh well…it's time for me to put on a performance! Kuro-kun…I'm so sorry…'_ she apologized. "False Angel Carol…" she began to sing, sprouted her wings and tail, and flew in front of the crowd, appearing to them as an angel sent from heaven. She sang louder and louder until everyone who couldn't recognize it as genjutsu was asleep. She stopped and shot a fireball into the sky and mentally thanked Misaki for letting her have some blood earlier.

Otogakure ninja invade and Suna-nin summon a giant three-headed snake at the western gate of Konoha. The "Kazekage" captures the Hokage in a violet sealed rectangular prison. She made eye contact with a Kuro that just came back from helping Michiru to the clinic. She looked at him apologetically as tears started forming in her eyes; she shut them tight and looked away. "Kabuto you take care of the rest here!" she flew down to Gaara to help him.

Kuro locked eyes with her for a second, "Great she's working for an invasion force!" Kuro jumped up and ran after his teammate, "Get back here Kiyo!"

"Shit!" She saw Temari and Kankurou coming to help their brother, "I'll leave him to you!" she ran as fast as she could into the forest. The last thing she wanted was a confrontation with him.

Kuro threw four chakra cards at high speed with each pair being connected by a chakra string, they were moving at such a speed the sand pair could not react before they were wrapped by the strings. When Kuro had run a good deal past t hem he released the strings. "You'll have to do better than that Kiyo! I will get an answer from you!"

She hid in an upper branch of a tree a half mile away. "Why did he have to be from here…" she sighed and tied her hair tightly in a low ponytail and stuck it in her jacket, '_I probably would have declined if I had known my own teammate has roots here.'_ She summoned her scythe and cut down many large trees, blocking Kuro's path.

"Holy tempest!" A blast of the golden energy destroyed all the tree in his ways. '_I_ _only have enough for one more of those blasts till my gold marks are gone.'_ Kuro jumped up and lunged toward Kiyo and attempted a harmless tackle.

She smelled him right behind her and she twisted her body, dodging, then used his back as a launch pad to get a head of him again.

Kuro reach out with his currently taller body and grabbed her ankle, "I got you! Now explain-" He just realized they were high in the air so he pulled her down and wrapped his arms around her protectively and made sure he would take the brunt of the coming fall.

When they landed, she was on top of him but the fall had caused them to lose consciousness with Kiyo's head dropping down and her lips pressing against Kuro's. Kuro's left hand had hit the ground and reposition so that her right breast was in his palm. Right as they landed a familiar voice chuckled "Well looks like my teammates knocked each out and somehow got in an interesting position, black mail time~. Too bad I have to make sure nothing happens to them."

A roar brings Kiyo back into the conscious world and groans a little bit, '_Wh-what happened?'_ she opened her eyes only to find she was on top of Kuro. Kuro woke up with a groan only to see Kiyo on top of him and his hand on her boob. She stared into his eyes for a second before backing off with a gasp and a blush redder than her hair. She grabbed her scythe, pointed at him and growled, "Stay away from me Masato."

"Oh that's the thanks I get for protecting you from that fucking fall?" Kuro grabbed the blade of her scythe and pulled it from her; he then grabbed the handle and used it to pull himself up.

"Just stay away from me!" she started to cry and released the summon on her weapon. She backed herself up to a tree and leaned against it. "I-it wasn't supposed to go…like this…" she muttered several times to herself.

Kuro sighed and walked close to her, "Just tell me…I'm not mad." Kuro wrapped her in a loose hug.

"Yeah we're all friends here, Kiyo." Kaido jumped down from a nearby tree.

"How could you not be mad!? I started the invasion on your home town!" she yelled at him and tried to push him away. "Why?! Why are you always so calm?! It infuriates me!"

"Nothing good comes from losing your cool." Kuro stated.

"Plus the Konoha curb stomped the Invasion's force, and from what I can tell…" Just then the presence of the Shukaku had completely disappeared. "It seems whisker boy just beat the red head creepy dude from the sand." Kaido leaned against a tree.

"SO?!" she pushed him harder and finally got him off of her. She glared at him and breathed heavily with anger. Her sclera stared to turn black and she grabbed her head, "Dammit…"

"What are you going to do Kiyo run, attack your teammate, your friend?" Kuro looked down at her and his Gold marks flared, "Don't make me help you; I don't want to hurt you…"

"Do…" she struggled to keep consciousness, "Do…you think I want to hurt you?" she literally smelled death and misery all around her, "Did you think I wanted all those innocent people to die?!" her irises changed from green to scarlet and her nail elongated and turned black. "AUGH!" she grabbed her hair in an attempt to stop the migraine but her efforts were futile.

"No…I think you wanted out of this at some point but it was too late. I know you're a good person Kiyo." Kuro let out a sigh, "Here you want some lighter help?"

"Wha…?" she looked up at him and he could see it in her eyes that she needed it whether she wanted it or not.

A soft gold light covered Kuro's left hand as he placed it on top of Kiyo's head and a calm voice spoke in her head. **"Stay calm young one, your will is strong. You will be fine just take a deep breath."**

"You feeling better?"

Her hands dropped to her sides as the migraine subsided, "Yeah…" breathed. Her eyes and nails stayed the same; it would take a while before the partial transformation went away. She batted Kuro's hand away, "How many times do I have to tell you to get away from me?!"

"What did I do?" Kuro asked.

"I don't know!" she yelled, "Whenever I'm around you I feel like I'm gonna throw up! My heart beats so fast I think I'm gonna faint and I can't think straight so I feel like I'm retarded!" she walked around telling him how she felt. "It feels like a constant flu around you! I-I hate it!"

Kuro's marks cleared, his eyes reverted back to normal, and his gentle smile turned to a scowl. "So me being around you makes you sick…fine." Kuro turned his back on her. "If you're so stuck up after all I do, and after I show no anger after what you fucking did…Maybe I don't want to be around you either!" Kuro used a modified body flicker to transport to Konoha.

Kaido shook his head, "Kiyo...you realize that fall would have fucked you up if Kuro didn't do what he did." he sighed. "Kuro grab you and held onto you in a position that put all of the impact from the fall on him. Trust me…you two slammed hard into the ground."

She looked at Kaido and tears streamed down her face, "I-I…I'm just confused."

"Kiyo-sama!" A man with face half covered with a white cloth appeared.

"Baki?"

"What're you doing just standing there!? We have to retreat!" he grabbed wristed and pulled her away, she looked back at her younger friend and questioned if she'd ever be able to face the two of the them again. She looked ahead at the blur of the trees and realized her glasses were gone.

"Man...I need a nap." Kaido ran off back to Konoha to hopefully meet up with Kuro.

Kiyo shrugged it off; she could by a new pair. She met up with Gaara, Temari and Kankurou well outside the village limits, but by the time the rest of surviving Suna Shinobi stopped to gather themselves it was nightfall. They made a camp just inside the border of the Land of Wind in case any Konoha-nin decided to follow.

"Kiyo! You're the only healer we have right now." Temari said, setting Gaara down at the trunk of a tree. People who weren't injured or giving first aid set up small fires close to each other. They may not have reached the desert yet but, it still got cold at night at the border. "Treat him please." Temari sounded worried, she almost never was. It was with tone of a big sister, too. She never had that tone unless she was lecturing Kankurou.

"I don't want any complaints from you." She ordered Gaara, who was still in shock from _his_ fight-with-a-blonde. "I need water to clean it properly." Kankurou nodded and took a part of his puppet that wasn't poison-laced to a nearby stream while Kiyo stripped Gaara of clothing on his torso.

She moved the water so it floated above her hand in a bubble, "This might hurt a little…you can hold onto me to relieve pain if it comes." She got on her knees and began using the water to get any dirt, sweat, sand, or anything else that might be hiding in the wound. Once she felt it was clean she let the water drop on the ground a few feet away.

"This…is going to hurt _a lot._" Kiyo pinned Gaara tightly between her and the tree. She tilted his head to the left and touched her tongue lightly to the wound.

"AHHHH!" the younger ninja screamed, the pain was worse for him than having the actual Chidori piercing him. By the time Kiyo lick-healed his wound, he had ripped her jacket to shreds and pulled out small chunks of her hair. He touched his shoulder, '_She is very impressive…'_

Kiyo was breathing heavily, "Blood…I-I need your blood!" she bit him on the opposite side of his neck as to not aggravate any pain. As she sucked the jinjuuriki's blood she thought about Kuro and what he said. Kiyo realized something and let Gaara go, "I'm sorry!" she ran away to the creek to be near the thing that calmed her even more than the caring Grandfather-like voice from earlier. Water. She took off the remaining shreds of her jacket and stepped into the creek.

"O-Of course I realize it now….so….so…much later than it needs to be…" she cried, looking at the reflection of the moon, and then looked up at it. "I-I'm not sick…I'm _in love_ with him…"


	33. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

Kuro landed in the middle of the leaf with a scowl on his face. "I can't believe that's how she felt this whole time...I thought we were friends."

"KURI-KUN~!" Rosu ran to Kuro, and wrapped her arms around him causing Kuro to smile again.

"Hey there Rosu-chan." she nuzzled into her boyfriend's chest.

"I was scared something happened to you..."

Kuro brushed the back of his hand against her cheek, "Don't worry, nothing is going hurt me if I know it will make you sad."

"Well if there is anything I would want to hear before I trusted you with my little angel it be than Kuro" Rosu's father walked out from behind a ruined wall.

"I will protect her with my life." Kuro stressed.

"I know son, now don't you have some teammates to gather and a village of your own to report to."

Kuro smiled to Rosu's dad "You got it...dad." Those last words the man heard from a boy who always seemed like the son he never had, almost brought him to tears of joy.

"Let's go find everyone else." Kuro and Rosu began running to the rendezvous point at the main village gate.

Kira coughed as she guided Misaki and Senku to the now destroyed village gates. "Are you ok Kira-san?" the blue haired girl asked.

"Yeah, I just probably inhaled dust." She coughed again. "You sure you didn't see Kiyo?"

"N-no…I don't think so…."

"I didn't see her." Senku said, adjusting his unconscious teammate on his shoulder. "That Kuro guy really did a number on him."

"Kuro and Kiyo had a falling out, and Kiyo went back to Suna." Kaido landed in front of the group.

"Why would she…Wasn't Suna involved in this?!" Misaki yelled at him in disbelief.

"I don't know why to be honest." Kaido shrugged.

"That idiot…What was she thinking?!" Kira cursed. "Was she trying to bring her family honor back in Suna!? IDIOT!" She yelled.

Kuro and Rosu walked up to the group, "We heading back home now?" Kuro asked.

Kira rubbed her head to keep back her on coming headache, she would have to tell the Kusuri family what Kiyo had done, she sighed, "Yea…" she began walking in the direction of Kumo.

"You ready to see my family's home in Kumo, _hime_?" Kuro smiled to Rosu.

"I can't wait Kuri-kun." she smiled back.


End file.
